Glenview Public Library Employees See Economic Insulation

Zip code can make a tremendous difference when it comes to job security and compensation of government employees, and, with the insulation of “home rule” property taxes to rely on, Glenview’s municipal workers have it better than most.

Gov. Pat Quinn last week announced plans that, if implemented, would lay off thousands of Illinois workers, in addition to those who have already lost their jobs or have seen pay hikes or freezes. Federal employees have had their pay frozen for the past two years, and all in all, the Labor department reports that 142,000 state and local employees have lost their jobs since the current economic downturn.

But a Patch analysis of just one sliver of Glenview’s municipal job sector, the , reveals a workplace where full-time employees can still expect a 4 percent annual raise. In the midst of the , between 2006 and 2011, Executive Director Vickie Novak saw a 25 percent increase in her salary, from $122,500 to $153,500. Comparing only employees who worked there the entire time period, the median raise was 20 percent.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Public Library system is facing proposed 2012 budget cuts that would lay off 363 employees and reduce the hours of operation for all branches.

The difference is in who’s footing the bill.

Glenview is an affluent community with “home rule” property taxing authority, which lets entities such as the library tap into the deeper pockets of their residents. Glenview’s residents expect high quality city services and are, by and large, willing to pay for them.

The new is  testament to that.

“The North Shore has the highest standards and highest expectations for their libraries,” said Novak.

“We have a clientele who for the most part are better educated,” she said. “We have a high level collection a high level of technology and that requires a high level of staff to help our patrons.”

She defended her own salary increase and the pay hikes of other employees, saying the library hired a consultant to benchmark compensation and that pay increases are necessary to retain highly qualified people.

In addition, Novak said the library also pays attention to what other Glenview public employers do. At , for example, teachers and staff received an average 6 percent raise in each of the past three years.

“In order to retain a good professional, qualified staff, we want to be sure our rates are in line,” she said.

But as the village attempted to balance its 2012 budget, there was some discussion about whether the library’s coffers were too flush. Village officials asked the library to spend some of its $2 million reserve to pay a percentage of its $1.9 million debt service levy. In November, after months of debate, library officials reluctantly agreed to abate 25 percent of the debt service levy, or $489,000.

Novak said the library has kept its levy flat for the past three years, in part by scaling back the number of employees eligible for benefits like health insurance. Employees who work 20 hours or more per week are eligible for benefits, and so the library has been hiring mostly new part timers.

“We’ve done a lot of things to create cost containment,” Novak said.

At the same time, she said libraries are extremely service-driven and with the new library seeing record use by a wide clientele, demands on employees are ever increasing. Retaining experienced workers is in the library’s best interest, Novak said.

“We think our people are one of our most important assets.”

Do you think Glenview's public sector employees have it better than their private sector counterparts when it comes to salaries, raises and benefits? Share your comments below or sound off on Facebook!