As far as Chairman Don Jensen knows, the latest LaSalle County Board vote on increasing member pay is final. After earlier votes on raising the rate from $60 per meeting failed, the board voted this morning to set pay at $100 per day starting in December. That’ll be when new board terms start.
State law says their pay can’t be changed less than 180 days before new terms start. The same rule is in effect for other county offices and the board has recently approved salaries for office holders for the terms that run from December 2022 to November 2026. In the County Board’s case, the rule has the effect of giving voters a chance to oust those who supported it instead of letting them raise their own pay.
Mike Kasap of LaSalle said at the $60 per day rate that has been in effect since 1994, part time members got $20 per hour for three hours of work today. He said that’s more than some full time county employees make.
Votes at earlier meetings went against raising the pay to $100, raising it to $85 instead, and offering more for committee chairs.
Earlier this spring Kasap opted out of a pension benefit he still qualified for. Members who took office since 2018 can’t enroll in the pension program anymore. Kasap was the only member in it and began to feel he had an unfair advantage.
The County Board has already decided to end health insurance as an option for new board members and current members who aren’t getting it. The board has until June 4 to vote on changing the pay and health insurance benefits again, if it wants to.
How they voted on raising pay from $60 per meeting to $100 per day:
Yes: McNally, Owens, Small, Bernal, Oscepinski, Busch, Stockley, Carretto, Walsh, Trager, Znaniecki, Dose, Hicks, Myers, Roach
No: Faber, Erbrederis, Borchsenius, Witczak, Kasap, Torres, Emmett, Freeman, Green, Walter
Members not listed weren’t present.