How Has City Of Darien's Head Count Changed?

DARIEN, IL — The Darien City Council this week approved spending $46,000 on an independent contractor to provide code enforcement services.

One reader objected to the cost in the comments to Patch's story, saying this was another example of increasing local spending. He said the new spending was for a position the city didn't need before.

"Taxed enough already!!! Cut Spending!!" the reader said.

When the reader was asked how the city should wield the budget ax, the person responded with a few questions about city spending. One was about new positions — contracted or otherwise — for the last two or three years.

Patch directed that question to the city, to which City Administrator Bryon Vana responded with documents on city employee head counts.

For four of the last five years, the head count was either 86 or 87 employees. Last year, the number dropped to 73 because the city did not hire the usual 14 seasonal employees in the streets and water departments.

For the last three years, the department has employed 44 people. The two years before that, the head count was 45. The number dropped by one because of the loss of the crime analyst position. Of the police department's employees, 34 are certified police officers.

When the seasonal employees are excluded, police department employees make up 60 percent of the city workforce.