Elburn parks, planning commissioners to get compensation increase this spring

Those serving on Elburn’s Parks Commission now will be paid $25 a meeting while those on the Planning Commission will receive a modest $5 raise to $25 a meeting.

The compensation increases to the two appointed boards were approved during the Jan. 3 Committee of the Whole meeting.

The changes go into effect May 1, which is the beginning of the fiscal year. Previously, parks commissioners weren’t compensated for their time while those on the Planning Commission received $20 a meeting they attended.

“I talked to Trustee (Ken) Anderson before he went out of town and he agreed that this is something he wanted to rectify so that we were very consistent across our committees,” Village President Jeff Walter said. “It needs to be consistent – whatever that consistency is – I’d like to see it the same for everyone. These residents give up their time and some of them are doing it for nothing, which is nice to have volunteers, but they should get something for their time in my opinion.”

No changes were made to the compensation for serving on the Police Commission, which remains at $1,000 a year, paid at the end of the fiscal year.

Elburn Chief of Police Nick Sikora said their meetings can go extremely long when they are in a testing cycle. Sikora said they are mandated to test every other year.

“When we are in a testing cycle, especially for an additional eligibility list, we dedicate a lot of time,” he said. “That’s a very time-consuming process when we consider generally a few hours on a weekend for orientation and a written exam, but when they get into the oral interviews, the last set of testing they set aside basically three eight-hour days on Saturdays and spent three full Saturdays as eight-hour days interviewing applicants.”

The board also approved increasing the yearly compensation for the liquor commissioner from $1,000 to $1,200. Trustee Bill Grabarek said the commissioner would receive an even $100 a month. The change won’t go into effect until the next election.

Walter proposed increasing the annual $3,000 that trustees in the village receive to at least $3,200. A comparison of neighboring communities revealed the $3,000 was on the low end, but trustees opted to keep the rate.

Among the trustees, Matthew Wilson said he was fine with the rate, Grabarek said he doesn’t need a raise, Chris Mondi said he’s not serving the community to make money, and Sue Filek drove home the belief that the Parks Commission is long overdue for compensation and its members are the ones who are in need of a compensation adjustment.

Geneva is most comparable to Elburn, paying its trustees $3,600 a year. Sugar Grove trustees are receiving $5,000 a year. North Aurora’s trustees earn $7,200 annually.