‘Necessary and appropriate’: Lake County administrator gets 20% pay bump
Lake County Administrator Patrice Sutton received a 20% salary boost this week with strong support from county officials.
Her contract was revised Tuesday to a salary of $296,853 from the current $247,200, in a 16-0 vote with two abstentions Tuesday.
Besides navigating a complex job, Sutton has overseen complicated initiatives such as the pending LakeComm consolidated 9-1-1 center, juggled two assistant administrator vacancies and is serving as the interim chief financial officer, officials said.
The suggested raise resulted from a salary review of other administrators and the board’s efforts to attract and retain qualified employees.
“When I took a look at the salaries of the other local municipal administrators in the area, I felt very strongly that her compensation was not in line for the role that she holds,” said board Chair Sandy Hart.
Board Member Paul Frank, who chairs the board financial and administrative committee, said the increase was “necessary and appropriate.”
He said the county undertook a deep, methodical review of salaries across the organization “because we were behind for the entire workforce.” That was addressed first and now it was time to deal with the top administrative post.
Sutton was chief financial officer when she selected Nov. 14, 2023, to fill the position on the pending retirement of Gary Gibson.
Sutton held several financial roles in the public and private sectors including six years each in separate stints as the county’s chief financial officer and deputy finance director. She also was Libertyville finance director from 2016-2018.
On her hiring as administrator, Sutton was said to be instrumental in the county receiving and maintaining its AAA bond rating illustrating excellent financial health, reporting and management,” officials said at the time.