* The County Officials Compensation Task Force (COCTF) has released a compensation recomendation report as mandated by state law…
One of the issues emphasized by the COCTF members is that salary formulas should be set in statute like the State’s Attorneys’ salary formula. Since the salary formulas for the other officials are not set in statute, county boards are tasked with determining salaries. The lack of State funding formulas has resulted in significantly lower compensation levels for these local officials compared to State’s Attorneys.
Um, maybe that’s because lawyers don’t wanna run for state’s attorney at such a low pay when they can make lots more in the private sector? I’ve not heard of a shortage of county clerk candidates, but maybe that’s just me.
The average annual salary of state’s attorneys, according to the report, is $192,469. That’s about double the average salaries for auditors, county clerks and reporters. And it’s about two and a half times the average salaries for circuit clerks, supervisors of assessment, treasurers, and consolidated clerk/recorders. The state’s attorneys make almost four times as much money as coroners.
A gender pay disparity exists within several countywide offices: “it was calculated that male officials in Illinois are paid on average 11% more than female officials.”
* And so here’s the proposed solution…
The compensation formula recommended by the COCTF is to pay each local official 80% of their county’s State’s Attorney’s salary. Implementing this formula would increase these local officials’ total salary cost from $38.5 million annually to $83.7 million. The COCTF recommends requiring the State to reimburse local governments for two-thirds ($55.8 million) of the proposed salary costs. […]
Currently, the State pays $3.5 million in salary reimbursements and $3 million in stipends annually to these local officials ($43.6 million for all local officials). The proposed salary and funding formulas would increase the State’s cost by nearly $55.3 million annually. It is the opinion of the COCTF that the parity achieved and the ability to recruit and retain high quality office holders is well worth the expense.
They’re also recommending an immediate $3 million inflation-adjusted stipend, with cost of living increases going forward.
Thoughts?
…Adding… From Sen. Seth Lewis…
I wanted to provide a few clarifications and remarks relative to today’s Capitol Fax item on the County Officials Compensation Task Force. I offer the following:
1. With regard to salaries, it is important to note that state’s attorney salaries are determined by a tiered system based on the size of each county. As a result, citing a blanket average salary of $192,469 could be misleading due to population differences among counties. Additionally, the recommendation is to prorate the countywide elected official salaries based upon the state’s attorney salary in each specific county.
2. The need to address the wage gap between male and female countywide elected officials cannot be understated. This is a significant issue that requires a standardized salary solution that does not differentiate based on gender.
3. Another issue that must be addressed is the so-called “weaponization” of salaries in counties where there are partisan splits among elected positions. A position’s salary should be merit-based and tied to the responsibilities of the office, not driven by partisan politics.
4. It is vital that any ultimate legislative solution recognizes the committee’s firm belief that the work performed by all countywide elected officials, whether state’s attorney, county clerk, circuit clerk, coroner, treasurer, or others, is valuable and necessary, particularly as it relates to transparent government and election integrity.
I appreciate your interest in the issue and look forward to additional conversations on this important topic.
- South of Springfield - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 1:05 pm:
That’s absurd. The county-wide electeds in Peoria County should not make the same as the countywides in Massac or Bond Counties. The SAO salary needs to be adjusted by statute, IMO…
- Politix - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 1:06 pm:
Very interesting. Sounds a lot like a union negotiation. The male-to-female wage gap should be addressed immediately.
- The Opinions Bureau - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 1:14 pm:
Great plan for a state-funded downstate Republican patronage program. /s
For real, though, its ridiculous that there isn’t a proposal to encourage or mandate consolidating offices. According to GovSalaries.com, the state’s attorney in Hardin County (pop. 3,550, median household income $57,155) made $161,070 in 2024. That in itself seems excessive. And we’re to believe his fellow county officers ought to be pulling down nearly $130k?
- Just Me 2 - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 1:21 pm:
A State’s Attorney is also an agent of the State of Illinois (hence the title of “STATE’S Attorney”), and is responsible for prosecuting laws passed by the General Assembly, so increased pay from the State makes sense.
- thinking - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 1:25 pm:
I agree the salaries for these elected offices are likely too low, however I don’t know that the answer is to raise them all without more strategic review and determine if some of these offices can be consolidated. There are also likely some changes that could be made to better align these positions. For example, the Circuit Clerks are definitely not paid appropriately for the amount of work the do and they’re really better suited to be employees of the judicial branch rather than the county.
- Annonin' - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 1:29 pm:
$192K seems like a pretty good number. Most lawyers without a robust practice might go for it while they wait for a judgeship to open up. Not sure the gender issue means much in this case. Should be fun to see how much interest this creates.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 1:31 pm:
The best solution, as has been discussed on Capitol Fax many times over the last decade, is to consolidate the smaller counties in Illinois.
The state could offer one-time assistance and incentives for doing so, like a one-time $250 property tax rebate.
The median county population in Illinois is about 23,000.
That means there are 51 counties in illinois with populations smaller than Collinsville. Maywood, Loves Park and Batavia that are trying to support a sherriff, clerk, court house, jail, planning department, coroner, state’s attorney and so on.
15 counties have fewer than 10,000 residents.
For a little comparison, ISU’s Hancock Stadium seats 13,000.
Not all consolidations save money, but I believe this one would, and there should be strong bipartisan support for the move, since almost all of the smaller counties are GOP and we know how much they love eliminating wasteful government spending.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 1:35 pm:
=== its ridiculous that there isn’t a proposal to encourage or mandate consolidating offices===
True, but considering all the countywide officials on the commission, it’s not surprising. The jury was stacked.
- Concerned Republican - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 1:38 pm:
By statute the sheriffs are making 80% of the state’s attorney’s already. Which honestly makes sense to me. But to insinuate that county clerks, circuit clerks, treasurers, etc. should make the same as the sheriff is absurd.
I am not opposed to some legislation setting the salaries for these positions based on county population ranges, but for it to be 80% of the state’s attorney and the same as the sheriff is ridiculous. There are zero qualifications to run for any of those offices. The SA must be a lawyer and the sheriff must be a certified law enforcement officer (plus assume massive amounts of liability). The sheriff undoubtedly manages the most employees in every county and a jail. WHy would these offices ever make the same salary as their sheriff?
- Juice - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 1:49 pm:
At least they are open to the costs coming from PPRT as opposed to just saying it must come from GRF. So I’m open to it.
I do not think, as a general matter, it is totally fair to conflate the State’s attorneys (and circuit clerks) with the other county elected officials because those offices are officers of the judicial branch of state government, and not simply local offices, though they are elected locally. The Illinois Constitution does not even require a State’s Attorney to be a resident of the county in which they serve.
I would also take a look at which county offices are not necessarily full time jobs, or at least what frequency in which the officers are not serving in that capacity full time. I know in my home county, and I imagine not the only one (the report indicates its a mix statewide), where the elected coroner also runs their own funeral home. Which to me makes some sense, but I also don’t know if a part time coroner should be paid $150 grand.
I would probably start with just those positions that are mandated by the constitution (clerk, circuit clerk (whose salary is supposed to also be provided by law), treasurer and sheriff (not included in the report, not sure if that’s because there is already a statutory floor or some other reason.) At a minimum, it makes more sense to me for the state to cover a greater proportion of the salary for the positions that counties are required to have compared to the positions that counties choose to have.
- Juice - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 1:51 pm:
Concerned Republican, I missed that 80% requirement for sheriffs, so ignore my inclusion of them in the above.
- Anyone Remember - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 2:11 pm:
“… they’re really better suited to be employees of the judicial branch rather than the county.”
Strictly speaking, circuit clerks are “non-judicial officials of the judicial branch” … . The entire court system should be part of state government and totally funded by the state.
- Mr. Morris - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 2:11 pm:
==For example, the Circuit Clerks are definitely not paid appropriately for the amount of work the do and they’re really better suited to be employees of the judicial branch rather than the county.==
Circuit Clerks are actually Non-Judicial Officers of the Judicial Branch of State Government though they are funded by the County.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 2:48 pm:
===At least they are open to the costs coming from PPRT ===
So they can cut money to municipalities?
If counties, particularly tiny counties, want to raise salaries without exploring county consolidation, they should. If the state gets involved, there should be some systemic change before spending $50 million a year with an automatic COLA.
- Juice - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 4:41 pm:
On the weaponization of salaries, how real of an issue is that?
The constitution prohibits an increase or decrease in the salary during the term of office. You could cut the salary for a future term to keep someone from running from re-election, but presumably that could negatively impact a preferred challenger as well.
- JS Mill - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 6:20 pm:
Taking money from port also takes money from schools. Hard pass.
- TheInvisibleMan - Wednesday, Jan 7, 26 @ 9:30 pm:
Sounds good. Feel free to take the money out of the LGDF fund to pay for it.
This is a local government pay issue, so what better source of funds than something specifically named the ” Local Government Distributive Fund”.