County board sets wages, levy for 2020

There was a meeting of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Tuesday, Dec. 17. Among a variety of other topics, the county board discussed their pay structure for 2020. This was an issue that was addressed at length during their Dec. 3 meeting as well.

This week the board agreed to keep their wages and overall compensation the same for 2020 as they were in 2019.

As it stands, the 2020 salaries for Cook County Commissioners range from nearly $24,000 for whomever is selected as the board chair to approximately $22,400 for the other commissioners. The vice chair in 2020 will receive an extra $500 for their role as the second in command. The schedule of per diems for the commissioners in 2020 is $100 for all approved meetings and activities. The chair and vice chair for 2020 will be selected during the first county board meeting in January. 
 
Commissioner Bobby Deschampe made the motion to keep compensation the same for 2020. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Heidi Doo-Kirk. The motion carried on a 4-1 vote, with Board Chair Ginny Storlie the only commissioner voting against.

Though he ultimately voted to support keeping the wages the same for next year, Commissioner Dave Mills said a cost-of-living adjustment regarding a pay increase makes sense for those who are elected to the county board.

Commissioner Myron Bursheim also said he would support a cost of living increase, with the possibility of making it retroactive.

Prior to making his motion, Deschampe said he did not think it was necessary to increase pay for the commissioners for a variety of reasons, including the fact all of those elected should know what they are getting into when they sign up for the job.  

Though she supported keeping the pay the same for 2020, Doo-Kirk said she was disappointed that the county’s budget committee did not review compensation this year.

Levy set at 5.89 percent
In more news regarding finances and expenditures at the county level, the board set their 2020 levy during Tuesday’s meeting. The levy was set at 5.89 percent. This is a slight decrease from the preliminary levy that was set in the early fall and was the figure the county referenced during the recent Truth in Taxation meeting. The preliminary levy was 6.05 percent. The reason for the decrease came following a reduction in funds provided to local arts organizations and supplemental funds coming in to the county from license fees regarding short-term rentals. This license starts in January 2020 and costs operators $200 for every short-term rental active in the county.

Commissioner Bursheim said the levy could have been far lower this year had the commissioners received an update on the Thye-Blatnik bill. This federal law provides payments in-lieu-of-taxes (PILT) to Cook, Lake and St. Louis counties for land in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The county is still waiting to find out how much it will receive in 2020 from the federal government under this bill, though the figure is expected to be a significant decrease for 2020 from what it received this year. As the county feels it has run out of time to hear a final answer, the levy was ultimately set at 5.89 percent.