Politics & Government
Who Is The Top Paid Public Employee In Your Town?
Check out this ranking of top paid small-town officials and use a new mapping tool to see who's the best paid public employee in your area.
As Illinois tries to stave off becoming the first state to see its bond rating drop to junk status after a two-year budget standoff, the number of public employees pulling home six-figure incomes continues to rise.
According to an analysis by government transparency group Open the Books, there are now 63,000 Illinois public employees making more than $100,000 with a combined cost to taxpayers of $10 billion.
Among them, 84 employees (see list below) of small cities and villages make more money than every governor in the country. And the top 20 best-paid city staffers, mostly comprised of village managers and attorneys, are all in the north and northwest suburbs of Chicago.
Find out what's happening in Glenviewfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
| Rank | 2016 Salary | Municipality | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $297,988.45 | Village Of Glenview | Lawrence T Hileman |
| 2 | $264,486.84 | Village Of Grayslake | Michael J Ellis |
| 3 | $255,247.62 | City Of Lake Forest | Robert R Kiely |
| 4 | $254,428.23 | Village Of Libertyville | Kevin J Bowens |
| 5 | $250,248.29 | Village Of Northbrook | Richard A Nahrstadt |
| 6 | $249,231.46 | Village Of Rosemont | Christopher R Stephens |
| 7 | $247,368.99 | Village Of Palatine | Reid T Ottesen |
| 8 | $245,000.44 | Village Of Rosemont | Patrick R Nagle |
| 9 | $239,276.72 | Village Of Schaumburg | Brian Townsend |
| 10 | $233,415.30 | Village Of Northfield | Stacy A Sigman |
| 11 | $231,668.35 | Village Of Deerfield | Kent S Street |
| 12 | $228,264.67 | Village Of Hoffman Estates | James H Norris |
| 13 | $226,156.11 | Village Of Bannockburn | Maria I Lasday |
| 14 | $225,160.39 | Village Of Skokie | Michael M Lorge |
| 15 | $224,750.88 | Village Of Winnetka | Robert M Bahan |
| 16 | $224,380.52 | Village Of Northbrook | Jeffrey L Rowitz |
| 17 | $224,012.24 | Village Of Lake In The Hills | Gerald D Sagona |
| 18 | $222,764.11 | Village Of Elk Grove Village | George B Knickerbocker |
| 19 | $222,089.32 | City Of Crystal Lake | Gary J Mayerhofer |
| 20 | $220,644.22 | Village Of Elk Grove Village | Raymond R Rummel |
| 21 | $220,548.02 | City Of Wheaton | Donald B Rose |
| 22 | $217,162.12 | Village Of Buffalo Grove | Dane C Bragg |
| 23 | $216,764.52 | Village Of Wilmette | Timothy J Frenzer |
| 24 | $216,292.28 | Village Of Glenview | Donald K Owen |
| 25 | $214,248.49 | City Of Evanston | Walter Bobkiewicz |
| 26 | $213,764.03 | City Of Elgin | Richard G Kozal |
| 27 | $212,246.43 | City Of Springfield | Douglas A Brown |
| 28 | $212,186.34 | Village Of Addison | Joseph E Block |
| 29 | $211,042.25 | City Of West Chicago | Michael L Guttman |
| 30 | $210,980.68 | Village Of Mt Prospect | Michael J Cassady |
| 31 | $210,320.24 | Village Of Lake Bluff | Robert D Irvin |
| 32 | $208,454.96 | City Of Elgin | William A |
| 33 | $208,347.62 | City Of Peoria | Patrick F Urich |
| 34 | $207,866.43 | City Of Aurora | Louis E Schoeny |
| 35 | $205,484.26 | City Of St Charles | Mark W Koenen |
| 36 | $205,177.99 | Village Of Lindenhurst | Matthew J Formica |
| 37 | $204,152.39 | Village Of Hanover Park | Juliana Maller |
| 38 | $202,544.39 | Town Of Normal | Mark R Peterson |
| 39 | $202,412.59 | City Of Highland Park | Ghida S Neukirch |
| 40 | $201,436.40 | Village Of Glencoe | Philip A Kiraly |
| 41 | $200,645.44 | Village Of Downers Grove | David B Fieldman |
| 42 | $200,192.39 | Village Of Bellwood | Andre Harvey |
| 43 | $200,073.61 | City Of Moline | Lewis J Steinbrecher |
| 44 | $199,170.84 | Village Of Vernon Hills | John M Kalmar |
| 45 | $198,027.36 | Village Of Glenview | Joseph P Kenney |
| 46 | $197,977.45 | Village Of Lincolnshire | Bradly J Burke |
| 47 | $196,979.19 | Village Of Skokie | John T Lockerby |
| 48 | $196,726.19 | Village Of Western Springs | Patrick R Higgins |
| 49 | $196,296.70 | City Of Aurora | Kenneth D Schroth |
| 50 | $195,878.67 | City Of Joliet | James D Hock |
| 51 | $195,822.95 | Village Of Hawthorn Woods | Pamela O Newton |
| 52 | $195,340.58 | City Of Aurora | Rosario Deleon |
| 53 | $194,787.66 | Village Of Kildeer | Michael S Talbett |
| 54 | $193,688.57 | City Of Aurora | Thomas J Weisner |
| 55 | $192,949.17 | City Of Aurora | Brian W Caputo |
| 56 | $192,803.00 | City Of Joliet | Edward Machak |
| 57 | $192,078.92 | City Of Aurora | Tara S Lafan |
| 58 | $191,365.27 | Village Of Lincolnwood | Timothy C Wiberg |
| 59 | $190,886.68 | Village Of Arlington Heights | Randall R Recklaus |
| 60 | $190,476.90 | Village Of Long Grove | David A Lothspeich |
| 61 | $188,931.74 | City Of Elmhurst | James A Grabowski |
| 62 | $188,620.56 | Village Of Glenview | Vickie L Novak |
| 63 | $187,757.86 | City Of Evanston | Martin Lyons |
| 64 | $187,374.92 | City Of Naperville | Douglas A Krieger |
| 65 | $187,281.23 | City Of Champaign | Dorothy A David |
| 66 | $186,827.84 | Village Of Glenview | Amy L Ahner |
| 67 | $186,524.86 | City Of Bloomington | Richard T Holz |
| 68 | $186,283.06 | City Of Elgin | Sean R Stegall |
| 69 | $186,251.18 | Village Of Willowbrook | Timothy J Halik |
| 70 | $185,910.96 | City Of Darien | Bryon D Vana |
| 71 | $185,384.98 | Village Of Tinley Park | David J Niemeyer |
| 72 | $184,253.05 | Village Of Wheeling | Jon A Sfondilis |
| 73 | $183,611.04 | Village Of Woodridge | Kathleen F Rush |
| 74 | $182,864.20 | Village Of Hinsdale | Kathleen A Gargano |
| 75 | $182,710.77 | Village Of Grayslake | William J Heinz |
| 76 | $182,502.43 | Village Of Huntley | David J Johnson |
| 77 | $182,399.28 | Village Of Kenilworth | Patrick M Brennan |
| 78 | $182,325.29 | Village Of Oak Brook | Riccardo Ginex |
| 79 | $181,658.73 | Village Of Mundelein | John A Lobaito |
| 80 | $181,312.59 | City Of Bloomington | David A Hales |
| 81 | $181,201.52 | Village Of Glenview | Jerome W Burke |
| 82 | $181,145.74 | Village Of Carpentersville | James M Rooney |
| 83 | $180,936.22 | Village Of Gurnee | Patrick A Muetz |
| 84 | $180,271.50 | Village Of Winnetka | Steven M Saunders |
(Note: Because the above salary information comes from 2016, some of the public employees listed have since retired.)
"The system is unsustainable," according to Open the Books CEO Adam Andrzejewski, author of the study.
Find out what's happening in Glenviewfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"Bloated public payrolls and highly compensated public employees are a statewide problem," he told Patch. "Illinois is broke and our property taxes are going higher because there are more public employees costing taxpayers more in pay, perks and pension."
In order to find which public employees received more than $100,000 in compensation last year, check out OpenTheBooks.com's interactive mapping tool, which allows you search the entire database geographically. Simply enter your zip code and find all the top-paid employees in your town.
Top photo via Shutterstock, Patch
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