Joliet's Jim Eggen Will Get $97K For Unused Vacation, Sick Days

JOLIET, IL - Director of Public Utilities Jim Eggen is one of Joliet's higher paid officials. He drew an annual salary of $144,640 last year. Recently, Eggen told the city he plans to retire effective April 1. By making the announcement now, Eggen can walk out of City Hall with a payout of around $97,000, and he will also be able to spike his city of Joliet retirement pension by a significant sum. According to a Joliet City Council memo, Eggen can expect to receive $96,629 for cashing out his unused sick days and his accrued vacation time between now and April 1. But that's not all.

Besides collecting $96,629 for cashing out his large nest egg of unused sick and vacation time that Eggen amassed during his local government career with Joliet, Eggen can expect to increase his monthly pension by another $853, thanks to the sick and vacation payout.

That translates into an extra $10,236 per year for Eggen's upcoming pension through the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. The timing of Eggen's retirement announcement is not a coincidence, either.

In October, Joliet's corporation counsel Marty Shanahan instituted a new policy that takes effect April 1 ending the city's long-standing expensive practice of letting city staff spike their pensions by cashing out large gobs of unused sick and vacation banks on the verge of their retirements.

Joliet Patch was the first news agency in Will County to shed light on the sizeable unused sick and vacation payouts that have been taking place at Joliet's City Hall for long-time retiring city officials.

In October, Patch published a story about Dave Mackley, the city of Joliet director of building and inspection services, who intends to retire on March 31. The city determined that Mackley's nest egg of unused vacation and sick days is apparently worth a taxpayer-funded payout to Mackley of $104,155.

The payout to Mackley, a mid-level local government manager, also stands to increase his public pension by approximately $1,319 per month, according to a city memo. Annually, that's more than $15,800. Mackley has worked for Joliet roughly 33 years.

First-term Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk said that Eggen's upcoming payout is the product of a generous fringe benefits program for city staff that was in effect for roughly 30 years.

"You can't just wave a magic wand and make it go away tomorrow," the mayor said Sunday night. However, "I do think that the changes we have made in our policy are pushing us in the right direction."

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Image of Jim Eggen via city of Joliet