Des Plaines council approves pay raises for future elected officials
Des Plaines’ future mayors, city council members and city clerks will be paid more than the current officeholders — but the raises won’t go into effect until 2029.
For the second time in as many weeks, the city council on Monday approved pay increases for all the city’s elected officials. The proposal needed two affirmative votes to be enacted.
The mayor’s annual salary will nearly triple to $30,000, from $9,600. The clerk’s annual salary will double to $12,000, from $6,000. City council members’ pay will quintuple to $15,000 annually, from $3,000.
Additionally, all the officials’ pay will automatically increase 2% annually starting in 2030.
State law prohibits elected officials’ pay from being adjusted during their current terms. As a result, and because Des Plaines elected officials are limited to two consecutive terms, the earliest the proposed changes could be implemented is after the 2029 municipal election.
All 10 of Des Plaines’ elected offices are part-time positions.
Aldermen Carla Brookman of the 5th Ward and Mike Charewicz of the 8th Ward opposed the plan, as they did two weeks ago. The 7th Ward’s Patsy Smith changed her vote to a “yes” this time around, however.
Before the vote, Brookman said the raises are too large. “It’s legal, but I don’t believe it’s good public policy,” she said.
Brookman suggested incremental pay boosts, a concept Charewicz also supported.
Brookman further complained that the health insurance benefits available to elected officials in town weren’t part of the conversation.
A couple audience members spoke against the raises before the vote, too.