123 Joliet City Employees Topped $150,000 Last Year

JOLIET, IL — After making $139,144 in 2020, Joliet police officer Tom Banas became the highest paid employee in the entire city of Joliet last year, making a grand total of $229,716, according to payroll records obtained by Patch.

In 2021, Banas had a base salary as a patrol officer of $109,923. Among the notables that pushed his total pay to nearly $230,000: Banas made $69,547 in overtime pay, $14,221 in special assignment flat rate pay, plus another $13,639 in what the city listed as "premium special assignment pay."

As part of his 2021 compensation, Banas got a pay increase of $3,182 retroactive for 2020 and a current year retroactive salary increase of $8,390, according to city payroll records. Banas received a longevity stipend of $1,751, a court stipend of $2,100, and $5,022 in holiday pay from the Joliet Police Department.

The highest paid current member of the Joliet Fire Department for 2021 was Battalion Chief John Koch, who made more than the fire chief and the deputy chief. Koch's base salary was $142,099.

In addition to that, Koch received a longevity stipend of $2,580, plus another $8,231 for his Joliet Fire Department holiday pay. Koch also made a significant amount of overtime pay: $47,021.

Lastly, Koch was paid $3,756 as an education reimbursement, Joliet payroll records reflect.

In an effort to foster greater local government transparency and to keep you informed on how your city of Joliet tax dollars are being spent, Joliet Patch has compiled its annual summary of the city of Joliet's top paid employees.

The Joliet Police Department had 67 police officers making more than $150,000. The Joliet Fire Department had 47 firefighter paramedics. The other nine employees making at least $150,000 work in City Hall or in public works.

The list of city employees includes anyone making about $150,000 or higher in gross wages in 2021. Patch obtained the data from a Freedom of Information Act request to City Hall.

1. Tom Banas, police operations, $229,716

2. Mark Vershay, fire captain, $204,402, retired Nov. 16, 2021; his retirement included a payout of $58,789 for his unused vacation and sick leave banks.

3. John Koch, fire battalion chief, $203,760

4. Fred Offermann, fire battalion chief, $195,498

5. Ken Simonich, police operations, $194,654, retired Sept. 17, 2021. Simonich's retirement included a city payout of $75,230 for his unused vacation, sick and comp time accruals.

6. Greg Blaskey, fire chief, $193,388

7. Michael Pauly, police operations, $192,562

8. Mike Batis, deputy police chief, $188,914, retired Sept. 9, 2021. Batis' retirement included a city payout of $56,934 for his sick bank and unused vacation accruals.

9. Pat Strocchia, fire captain, $187,571

10. Jim Capparelli, city manager, $185,716

11. Christopher D'Arcy, police operations, $182,164

12. Ronald Fox, fire battalion chief, $181,701

13. Raul Alvarez, police operations, $181,451

14. Jeremy Harrison, police operations, $181,197

15. Matt Baxter, fire captain, $181,156

16. Jim Torri, community development, $181,110

17. John Stachelski, fire battalion chief, $180,999

18. Arthur Arellano, police operations $179,141

19. Marcus Wietting, police operations, $178,703

20. Jose Tellez, police operations, $178,405

21. Jeff Carey, deputy fire chief, $177,278

22. Jamere Price, police operations, $176,585

23. Eric Mattson, fire operations, $175,157

24. John Merriman, fire captain, $174,199, retired Sept. 15, 2021. Merriman's compensation included $57,437 for his unused vacation and sick leave

25. Robert Mau, police operations, $173,326

26. Robert Brown, became interim police chief in October, $173,086

27. David Fox, police operations, $172,954

28. Andrew Jose, police operations, $172,808

29. Sherrie Blackburn, deputy police chief, $172,640

30. Neal Kruchten, fire lieutenant/EMS coordinator, $172,548

31. Frank Wascher, police operations, $172,283

32. John Byrne, police operations, $172,145

33. Bryan Marconi, fire operations, $172,047

34. Jeff German, police detective, $171,976

35. Peter Van Gessel, police operations, $170,201

36. Kenneth Brown, police operations, $170,012

37. Moises Avila, police operations, $169,040

38. Dawn Malec, police chief until demotion in October, $168,590

39. Daniel Berta, fire operations, $168,077

40. Brent Fraser, community development, $167,870

41. Christopher Botzum, police operations, $166,907

42. James Lukancic, fire operations, $166,722

43. Carlos Matlock, deputy police chief, $166,590

44. Joe Egizio, police lieutenant, criminal investigations, $166,588

45. Terrence Juricic, public utilities, $166,312

46. Joe Rosado, demoted to police lieutenant, $166,117

47. Tizoc Landeros, police operations, $166,087

48. John Williams, police operations, $165,978

49. Patrick Cardwell, police sergeant, $165,149, president of Joliet police supervisors group.

50. Aaron Kozlowski, fire battalion chief, $165,080

51. Brian Edman, fire operations, $164,772.

52. Matt Breen, police operations, $164,640

53. Bruce Trevillian, police operations, $164,527

54. Bob Rosado, fire captain, $163,762

55. Juan Acosta, police operations, $163,641

56. Doug Palmer, police operations, $163,544

57. Darren Prochaska, police operations, $163,338

58. James Robertson, police operations, $162,783

59. Bradley Dubs, police operations, $162,678

60. Shana Wendt, police operations, $162,605

61. Jim Blake, fire battalion chief, $162,407

62. Tim Powers, police operations, $162,232

63. Michael Fosen, police operations, $162,207, retired May 3, 2021. Fosen was one of two police to get a retirement payout topping six figures for 2021. The other was Police Chief Al Roechner, at $121,114. Fosen received about $104,695: $54,511 for his excess of vacation time, $29,664 for his comp time banks and $20,520 for his sick bank payout.

64. David House, fire operations, $162,037

65. James Kilgore, police operations, $160,760

66. David Wall, police operations, $160,010

67. Richard Olson, police operations, $159,987

68. Craig Sayles, fire operations, $158,434

69. Wayne Lopez, public utilities, $157,973

70. Matt Thom, fire operations, $157,789

71. Kyle Bledsoe, police operations, $157,573

72. David Braner, information technology director, $157,473

73. Joe Alsbury, police operations, $157,518

74. Sean Miller, fire operations, $157,148

75. Ray Palacios, fire operations, $156,860

76. Melissa Andrzejewski, police operations, $156,775

77. James Rouse, police operations, $156,384

78. Matt Ehrsam, fire operations, $156,301

79. Jeremy Hoffman, fire operations, $156,199

80. James Ryan, fire operations, $155,830

81. Bob Desiderio, police operations, $155,770

82. Tim Chaplin, fire operations, $155,722

83. Brian Prochaska, police operations $155,412

84. Harold Pitsenberger, fire operations, $155,355

85. John Gallagher, fire operations, $155,152

86. John Ross, police operations, $155,138

87. Bob Casares, police operations, $154,961

88. Brian Montello, police operations, $154,944

89. James Boyd, fire operations, $154,940

90. Mark Boros, fire operations, $154,922

91. Daniel Traina, fire operations, $154,738, retired Sept. 7, 2021. Traina received a payout of $62,056 for his unused vacation and sick leave

92. Stephen Breen, police operations, $154,725

93. Mark Troha, fire operations, $154,324

94. James Ryan, fire operations, $154,394

95. Mike Adelmann, fire operations, $153,759

96. Brent Pocewicz, police operations, $153,679

97. Jim Ghedotte, finance director, $153,554

98. Brian Bornemann, fire operations, $153,340

99. Eric Johnson, fire captain, $153,139

100. Jerry Austin, police operations, $153,061

101. Jeff Chignoli, fire operations, $153,018

102. Mike Devito, police operations, $152,993, president of Joliet FOP Labor Council

103. Tom Stein, police operations, $152,874

104. Paul Yanak, fire captain, $152,018

105. Dwayne English, police spokesman, $152,081

106. Lisa Nicodemus, police operations, $152,070

107. Richard Stygar, police operations, $151,894

108. Phil Emph, police operations, $151,558

109. Burke Schuster, fire operations, $151,520

110. Charles Jones, public utilities, $151,477

111. Peter Ranstead, police operations, $151,368

112. Matt Christensen, fire operations, $151,227

113. Julie Larson, police operations, $151,049

114. Noah Klima, fire operations, $150,921

115. Jerry Green, fire operations, $150,837

116. Jim Batusich, fire operations, $150,806

117. Patrick Kelly, police operations, $150,787

118. Jeff Haiduke, police operations, $150,658

119. Corrado Venzon, police operations, $150,642

120. Allison Swisher, public utilities' director, $150,577

121. Doug May, police operations, $150,395

122. Kevin O'Keefe, fire operations, $150,258

123. Mark Carbaugh, fire operations, $150,006