Several DuPage County elected officials will see pay raises kick in after the November election, including a 35% salary jump for the county board chair.
The DuPage County Board has approved increases for the board chair, 12 county board members and several countywide positions, including sheriff, treasurer and clerk, all of which are up for election in the fall. The salary bumps take effect in December, when the county’s 2027 fiscal year begins.
Per state statute, salaries for county board members and countywide elected officials must be set at least 180 days before the start of their terms.
Currently, the county board chair is paid an annual salary of $136,959. In the 2027 fiscal year, that will escalate by about 35% to $185,000. Over the three years after that, it will climb to $190,550 in 2028, $194,361 in 2029 and $198,248 in 2030.
The size of the increase was debated during the board’s Finance Committee review. Initially, the salary was to go up to $154,390 in the 2027 fiscal year, bringing it closer to the amount paid to the county clerk and treasurer.
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However, District 1 Board member Sam Tornatore pushed for a larger increase, arguing that the pay was not proportional to the job’s responsibilities.
“As to the chair, it has become a full-time job. … If something goes wrong here in this county, whether it’s a flood, whether it’s a natural disaster or an unnatural disaster, the first person who is going to get called is the chair,” Tornatore said.
The annual salary for the clerk and treasurer positions will increase from $151,363 to $154,390 in the next fiscal year. After that, the positions will be paid $159,021 in fiscal year 2028, $162,202 in fiscal year 2029 and $165,446 in fiscal year 2030.
All 18 county board members currently receive a base salary of $52,102. Under the approved increase, 12 of them will see their salary increase to $53,144 for fiscal year 2027. By fiscal year 2030, it will be $62,000.
Salaries for the other six board seats were set in 2024 prior to the election. They will be paid $53,144 in fiscal year 2027 and $54,738 in fiscal year 2028.
“(What) we’re talking about is not going to bust the bank,” District 6 board member Jim Zay said at a recent board Finance Committee meeting. “… Many of us are chairs of committees. We spend a lot of time on that. We lead committees. We lead departments. So, again, I don’t think these are too out of line. This board has held the salaries for many, many, many years.”
A few county board members noted that salaries for the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County Board commissioners is set to increase next year from $50,000 to $56,912, which some county board members cited as further justification for the pay raises.
“I think this county board does a lot more than the forest preserve does,” Zay said. “People might disagree with me. I’m sure the forest preserve (commissioners) will disagree with me, but again, I think the role we play is important here at the county.”
Four county board members — Cindy Cronin Cahill, District 1; Kari Galassi, District 3; Lynn LaPlante, District 4; and Melissa Martinez, District 6 — voted against the raises.
“I support the chair’s increase in salary … but I personally do not believe that I should be voting on an increase for my salary or for the salary of this position,” Cronin Cahill said at the committee meeting. “This is a public service for me.”
In response, Zay emphasized that the salary raises are not for the current individuals serving but for the people who will fill the seats after the November election.
“We don’t vote for raises for ourselves,” he said. “She’s really not voting for a raise for herself. Her salary has already been set for the next two years of her term. That was done two years ago … so that’s why the 12 board members that are up now, that’s why we’re setting salaries for the next four years.”
The county sheriff’s salary for the next four years is $175,461. This year it’s $174,891.
Board members also decreased the county’s contribution towards the salary of the regional superintendent of schools, the majority of which is paid for by the state. County contributions towards that role will go down from $33,911 to $17,190. By fiscal year 2030, the county contribution to the position will be $18,420.