County Salaries To Be Considered by McHenry County Board This Morning

     When the McHenry County Board meets this morning, possibly two of the most important matters to be considered are salaries for three county officials and 12 county board members. This refers to the County Clerk, County Treasurer and County Sheriff and the 12 county members whose terms expire this year.
     The County Board has implemented a policy of setting salaries for the new terms of Elected Officials during the budget process in the fiscal year prior to the fiscal year the office/term begins.
     Therefore, a resolution rescinding a 2009 resolution is to be considered by the Board. This resolution, adopted November 3, 2009, set the salaries of the County Clerk, County Sheriff and County Treasurer, for the years 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 based on the Consumer Price Index for Northern Illinois/Metropolitan Chicago for the third quarter average or 5% whichever is less.
     Due to the current economic downturn, it has been considered to rescind that resolution and replace it with a resolution directing County Administration to freeze the salaries of the three officials for 2011 due to the uncertainty of the current economic climate. This means the salaries of the County Clerk and Treasurer are frozen for 2011 at $103,802 and the Sheriff's salary is frozen for 2011 at $145,661. The salaries for the officials would return to increases based on the cost of living for the years 2012, 2013, and 2014.
     The Human Resources Committee approved the proposed change. However, when the matter went before the Finance and Audit Committee, that group cast a tie vote. Therefore, the matter goes before the entire County Board without a recommendation.
County Board Salaries
     Salaries for County Board members for 2011 would be set at $79,063 for the Chairman, $24,766 for Vice Chairman and $19,766 for the members. That resolution
     The decision to make the change for the coming year only was easily approved in action by the Human Resources Committee but not as easily when it reached the Finance and Audit Committee.