Will County will talk pay hikes — or cuts — for elected officials
BY JON SEIDEL Sun-Times Media jseidel@suntimes.com May 3, 2012 4:34PM
Will County Board Chairman Jim Moustis
Updated: May 3, 2012 4:34PM
Will County Board Chairman Jim Moustis said he wants to talk about elected county officials’ paychecks next week — and whether they should go up or down.
“I think I’m going to propose a decrease,” Moustis said.
Moustis, a Frankfort Republican, said the board’s executive committee will take up the topic when it meets again May 10. This is a good time to consider a change, he said, because it’s the rare election year in which every county board seat is up for grabs.
After the 2012 vote, the first under a new county election map, county board members’ terms will be staggered.
Moustis said the board will be considering only pay for elected county officials on this fall’s ballot. In addition to county board members, Will County voters will be picking an executive, auditor, circuit court clerk, coroner and recorder. Each of them make $93,116 a year, according to Will County officials.
The base pay for Will County board members is $23,000, but the board’s leaders make $24,000. The state’s attorney’s salary is set by the state, Moustis said.
The board has until early June, or six months before new terms begin in December, to decide whether to change the salaries. Moustis said he might propose a decrease in elected officials’ salaries, and he said the county executive’s salary shouldn’t be more than three times that of a county board member’s.
Executive Larry Walsh, a Democrat, said the decision belongs to the board.
“I committed to being a full-time county executive,” Walsh said, “and I think I have proven beyond a doubt that I’m a full-time county executive.”
