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* GateHouse…
There’s an unofficial club in state government whose robust membership may surprise many taxpayers, especially given the ongoing challenges of growing debt, pension obligations and budget cuts.
The “club” has 6,215 members, about 8 percent of the state’s workforce, each of whom earned more than $100,000 last year.
Those employees earned about 17 percent of the total $4.5 billion payroll, according to an analysis of state records in 2012 provided by the state comptroller’s office. The analysis did not include employees of state universities.
More than $780.6 million was paid to those 6,215 state employees. The group includes doctors, judges, nurses, police officers, investment managers and the state’s chief executive, Gov. Pat Quinn, to name a few.
It’s a growing club, with 1,131 new members in 2012. Nearly 2,000 additional state employees made $100,000 or more in 2012 than in 2010, when six-figure earners accounted for 5.5 percent of employees and 12.5 percent of the state’s total payroll. There were 75,918 people employed by the state last year, about 4.5 percent fewer than 2011.
* A whole lot of cops are making some big bucks…
More than one-third of Illinois State Police employees earned more than $100,000 last year.
There were 1,052 employees — nearly 35 percent of the department — that earned over $100,000. This group earned more than $125.8 million in 2012, which accounted for 47 percent of the department’s payroll.
The agency has the highest percentage of $100,000-plus workers of any large state department, except for judges and Supreme Court justices.
The average state police salary for all ranks and experience levels was $87,725.05 in 2012. A first-year trooper’s base salary is $57,708 after completing the training academy and a six-month probation period. About 6 percent of those ranked trooper, first class received more than $100,000 because of overtime earnings.
* This makes sense, considering who lives in the suburbs…
DuPage County has the largest percentage of its state employee population earning more than $100,000. Nearly 13 percent of the state workers living in DuPage are members of the club. Will and McHenry are two other collar counties surrounding Chicago where at least 10 percent of its resident state workers made more than $100,000. […]
The 16 most southern counties in Illinois have 7,022 state employees, but 348 of them — less than 5 percent — make more than $100,000.
The number for Sangamon County is 9.79 percent.
* Interesting…
State Museum director Bonnie Styles made $137,928 in 2012. That’s about $20,000 less than the head of Peoria’s Lakeview Museum, Jim Richerson, made in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2012.
* Related and a roundup…
* General Assembly’s FY2014 Budget Shows Slight Deficit: The legislature’s budget authorizes General Funds spending of $35.699 billion for the year that begins on July 1, 2013, the bond documents show. General Funds revenues are projected at $35.610 billion, resulting in an operating deficit of $89 million.
* Illinois lawmakers to take 12 unpaid furlough days
* Quinn zigzags on pension reform not helpful, lawmakers say: Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said she was surprised that anyone would criticize the governor’s leadership role on the pension issue “with a straight face.” “That is a ludicrous excuse from individuals who, instead of deflecting blame, should be focused on their jobs and sending the governor a bill,” Anderson said. “I know it’s a tough political vote to take for many, but it’s past time that they act for the greater good of Illinois and stop making excuses.”
* It’s official: Tenaska coal plant is kaput: In the release, Dave Fiorelli, Tenaska president of development, said the company is turning away from coal-fired projects. “The current market is in need of natural gas-fueled and renewable electric generating facilities,” he said.
* Sneed: Pol on perk patrol
* Finke: It’s the final, final, final deadline. Really.
* Erickson: Capitol fire alarm left ’em wondering
* Hinz: Why it’s long past time to fix state’s tax system
* How Neil Bluhm’s bet on Rivers Casino has paid off: “We’d prefer there to be no new competition and cannibalization, but if it’s going to be so, it should be fair,” Mr. Bluhm says. He wants the state to lower tax rates on casino owners and allow existing facilities to add more gambling positions.
* Casino’s Technical Failure Causes Evacuation
* IDOT refines Circle Interchange plans: The Circle accommodates more than 400,000 vehicles daily, including about 33,000 trucks, according to IDOT. The outmoded design contributes to sudden lane changes and weaving patterns that cause an average of three crashes each day at the congested junction, traffic data show.
* The Last Mystery of the Financial Crisis - It’s long been suspected that ratings agencies like Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s helped trigger the meltdown. A new trove of embarrassing documents shows how they did it
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 11:41 am
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Same as it ever was, at least recently . . .
Top 1% demands austerity for everyone else to avoid austerity for themselves.
Comment by Bill White Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 11:44 am
Gatehouses’ news regarding the $100,000 club is not helpful unless they also want to:
1. Separate out the overtime, and retirement lump sums for unused vacations and sick pay. A lot of employees who normally do not meet their threshhold would meet it for the one year that they retired in. We had record retirements in 2012.
2. Determine the years of service, the education/experience required/ private sector equivalents. For example, Information Technology personnel are not overpaid when compared tot he private sector.
Otherwise, they are just attempting to stir up the private sector against the public sector.
Comment by mythoughtis Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 11:47 am
Those are good stories, the tribune has been on the case of the $300,000 suburban school superintendent for years and there used to be a website called thechampion.org that routinely cataloged the suburban gym teachers with 5 classes a day making $130k a year. There’s just not a lot of public outrage for this kind of stuff.
Comment by shore Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 11:56 am
Upon further reflection, I agree with mythoughtis
The solution is not to pummel a state trooper earning ~$115,000 after 20 years service but rather somewhat increase the pay of the lower tiers.
A full time state policeman does have a challenging demanding job and I do not begrudge paying wage scales allowing a decent middle class lifestyle.
It’s the billionaires who need an attitude adjustment.
Comment by Bill White Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 11:58 am
Not much of a surprise.
In my community, each fully trained policeman(woman) earned in the six figures after overtime is included.
Comment by Plutocrat03 Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:04 pm
Mythoughtis is right. I retired in 2011. I had 126 sick days (63 fulldays payable). I crossed over the 100K limne for that 1 year. I guuess I should have called in sick a lot more ??.. Also I see the top earner was TRS’s investment advisor 375K. He made 8% the last 10 years. I just checked my def comp (457B) and I made 8.03% the last 10 years. I’ll come out of retirement for 150K if they want to cut costs…just sayin
Comment by Anotheretiree Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:17 pm
Another easy hit piece by the lazy media to excite the readership. While there may be few cases of political hacks that don’t deserve $50k, but by and large these folks earn their money.
Does the reporter or his editor want to go to a doctor whose paid $60k?
Comment by Norseman Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:17 pm
$100,000 is hardly the top 1%. I don’t like stories that imply these salaries are too generous. Don’t begrudge them because they have decent jobs. Just because the private sector and global economic forces drive down wages for many Illinoisans does not mean these people aren’t earning their money every day.
Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:20 pm
$100k is more of a psychological number than anything else. What is a decent number for a solid middle class income? Who decides that? Do you remember when $100k used to be a large salary for an elite professional athlete?
Comment by My Thoughts For Whatever Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:22 pm
Mea culpa for my 1st post . . .
I was so excited I swung and missed.
Kudos to Norseman
=== Another easy hit piece by the lazy media to excite the readership. *** Does the reporter or his editor want to go to a doctor whose paid $60k? ===
It’s the same with our police, firefighters, teachers, etc . . .
Comment by Bill White Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:25 pm
No Surprise here. Now if they can figure out how to round up all the consultants, then that would make a lot of jaws drop. It would stun people.
Comment by Mouthy Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:25 pm
100K is a different number depending on where you live in this state. In rural areas, it’d be a good sum but in the suburbs, just about any suburb, you couldn’t buy much with that. But of more importance, 100K is not wealthy no matter where you are talking about living! And of particular outrage is that it’s those with incomes of many multiples of 100K who are trying to stir up outrage about it. Obviously, those with great wealth are merely trying to deflect attention AWAY from themselves and trying to get middle class people arguing amongst themselves. Great diversionary tactic. And it seems to be working. Bring up a graduated state tax reform and this is what results.
Comment by geronimo Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:28 pm
So I’m a member of the club. Have enjoyed one 1% salary increase in 3 three years, an honored to pay into both Social Security and a bankrupt pension system that will likely be costing me more and more for less future benefit. Oh, did I forget to mention the significant increases in health care premiums and deductibles? Living the life.
Comment by Sluggo Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:30 pm
Here’s a twofer: Hire more employees to reduce o.t. and thereby a.)reduce the number of employees making more than $100k and b.reduce the number of unemployed
Comment by truthteller Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:34 pm
Wow after years of legislation to increase teacher and police pay- surprise, the people with power in those professions are paid better! The state could save a lot of money by moving jobs back to Springfield.
Comment by Liberty First Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:35 pm
The $100K story is a lazy journalism evergreen. What’s so shocking about a trooper making $100K? You want to pull over cars on the IKE at 3 a.m.?
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:39 pm
Sluggo, I’m in the club too. It was a 29 year climb up that ladder, with help from no one. I have a technical job that would actually pay more in the private sector, but I guess I’ll stick it out for a couple more years to see what little pension I will be earning after it gets hacked apart next week!
Comment by rusty618 Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:39 pm
Anotherretiree, I doubt you selected the managers of investments offered to you through your 401k plan, monitored their strategies, management team, etc.. $357k for managing nearly $40 billion in assets hardly seems outrageous.
Comment by Lil Squeezy Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:41 pm
To tack on to mythoughtis’ point #1: I wonder if the Pension crisis would be as much of a crisis if the annual pension amounts were calculated against the employee’s base salary rather than the accumulation of base + overtime + etc. (pension spiking?). Overtime should budgeted as an “at management need” item that could change at any time, not guaranteed income. The State has always seen overtime/contractors as the cheaper alternative to new hiring. If memory serves me correctly, ISP overtime includes hire-backs for short staff, safety check assignments, traffic court (pay ‘em overtime guarantees they show up), etc.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:46 pm
Just checking on-line. Several sources suggest the percent of actual individual employees making more than $100,000 per year in the US is about 6 percent. So if 8 percent of state employees are making this level of income it probably reflects the professional nature of many of the job in State Government - that require college and specialzied degrees. Keep in mind the 6 percent US average includes all individuals. So, the Illinois average is on par with the US nationally, and controlling for incomes of professionals likely to be somewhat below the national average. So, what is the problem?
Comment by PAprof Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 12:47 pm
How much would these same people make in non-government positions doing very similar work? If you simply want people who will work cheap then do not complain when the results are not there.
Comment by zatoichi Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 1:00 pm
Surprising, but Mr. Hass, lead writer of the articles, chose not to respond when he was asked: ‘For a company trading at less than a nickel a share, is your CEO worth $1.3M a year?’
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=GHSE
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 1:08 pm
Know a retired Illinois State Trooper who qualified for Food Stamps during the Walker administration (due to having kids) while working as a Trooper. Obviously things have changed in the last 40 years.
Serious question for those who think ISP officers are paid too much. What is the private sector job you would compare to a road trooper?
Comment by Anyone Remember? Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 1:11 pm
I tend to agree with wordslinger. This information has been in stories and press releases since January. This smells like an attempt to drive web traffic to Gatehouse’s salary databases.
Maybe there would have been a story if the data included the public universities. Its absence suggests this more of an analysis of data obtained through a FOIA request to CMS. They could have also also clicked a few buttons on the Comptroller’s website and typed up 1,000 words on those findings. We are left to speculate since this story does not cite a source.
University data could have be included if one of the FOUR reporters had done about 30-45 minutes worth of legwork.
Comment by Dirty Red Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 1:14 pm
Over the long haul, I wonder if perhaps overtime is cheaper for taxpayers than hiring more employees, especially if layoff rates are low as they are in Illinois state government. Every state job you create and maintain is thus a permanent job which will include not only salary and health insurance costs but also pension costs. Overtime gets paid in the fiscal year it is earned, pension costs, as we know now, are forever.
Nevertheless, state managers have a fiduciary responsibility to manage well and keep overtime to a reasonable level. Do they always? I doubt it. And at the end of each budget year we see how expensive this lack of management can be. Perhaps each state manager should be evaluated publicly regarding how much overtime was accrued on their watch and how much that cost taxpayers.
Comment by cassandra Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 1:24 pm
Dirty Red-
It’s even easier than using a FOIA. CMS already hosts the data publicly here:
http://accountability.illinois.gov/
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 1:30 pm
They certainly must be the best and the brightest. The only exception I can think of, is my old boss, who was puzzled by the boot with the hole in the toe.
What about consultants? That’s where the big bucks go.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 1:34 pm
You’re right, Anonymous.
I mentioned FOIA because it is my understanding that Gatehouse usually obtains the data they regurgitate in their salary database through a request sent to CMS.
Personally, I tend to not use accountability.illinois since it does not have some state employees, myself included, in its warehouse for one reason or another. I haven’t quite figured out why since the same employees appear in similar salary databases I have seen.
Comment by Dirty Red Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 1:47 pm
HEY, I made the list, I barely made it, but I am there. Funny thing is, 95% of the staff I supervisor made more than me! It took me over 28 years to finally make 100k, and it took quite a bit of OT to do it. Not bad for starting out at 1200/month.
OH and the SJ-R just lost a subscription, I cancelled it today. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
Comment by He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 1:48 pm
I have no problem with most of these people pulling in 100k.
What I do have a problem with is employees receiving pension credit for overtime dollars they earn. State troopers, correctional officers, and many others spike their pensionable salaries with OT hours during their final years on the job. Most Chicago and other local government employees do not get pension credit for OT pay. This is a big driver of state pension costs that no one is talking about.
Comment by Frank Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 1:52 pm
For those who think the rating agencies provide sober, objective analysis and aren’t just part of the Wall Street hustle, take some time to read the link to Matt Taibbi’s piece in “Rolling Stone.” He’s done some of the best works since the 2008 crash.
Also, the link posted Friday by Rich on Illinois bonds provides welcome perspective to the hysteria around the ratings rodgering Illinois taxpayers are being subjected to by these swindlers.
Bottom line: At this point, Moody’s and S&P are just making it up. There are no ratings standards. They’re just flopping around, acting tough now because they’re scared the federales are going to make them wear the jacket — criminally — for the subprime crash.
Moody’s and S%P were once golden business names — now they’re Lehman Bros. and Arthur Andersen.
An aside: According to the google, more than 5,000 corporations have AA ratings, higher than the SOI.
I wonder how many of them have a $650 billion annual GDP, sovereign taxing power and have not been late on a payment in 170 years?
It’s lunacy.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-06-20/relax-bondholders-illinois-won-t-default.html
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 1:57 pm
as someone who hails from the southern portion of the state, that sort of reporting will have a big impact upon people who read or hear the information, but admittedly, not sure how many will read or hear the info.
that sounds like a lot of people making a lot of money where I come from.
on a different note, some of realize that a pension of 80K per year is the equivalent of having 1.6 millions dollars in the bank drawing 5% interest. that sounds like a lot of money too.
Comment by biased observer Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 2:06 pm
Word — Hey, baby, you’re playin’ my song…
Comment by soccermom Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 2:23 pm
I see that biased has to get his two cents in. It must be nice to hate everone who draws a state pension or works for the state. My cousin is a state trooper in the East St. Louis area. Why don`t you go over and try doing his job for a few days biased. While you are at it tell them you will work for seven dollars an hour. On another hand I have another cousin on my Mother`s side who is a farmer. He has drawn over a million dollars in farm subsidy payments in the last fifteen years and likes to brag about using one hundred thousand of it to buy a new tractor to take to tractor pulls. Sounds like your kind of hero biased. I`ll bet Rauner is your man.
Comment by Harry Wasko Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 2:32 pm
@biased, an $80,000 pension is nothing like $1.6 million in the bank. When a pensioner and his/her dependant dies, there is nothing left for the heirs. If you have $1.6 million in the bank, the heirs and government (death taxes) get that.
Comment by 332bill Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 2:42 pm
Old news, poorly rehashed. The “club” notion is trite.
Instead of doing a data dump, why didn’t they hunt for a hack here or there in the “club?” Like most of the posters, I think the State Police earn every penny of that salary and OT. They should have screened out the people who went over due to retirement payouts-they had the data.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 2:56 pm
I remember sometime during the 60s Cairo was hiring new police officers. The Mayor was quoted in the Southern Illinoisan. “The job pays $500 a month just like any other unskilled labor in the area.”
I guess the whole state could follow Cairo’s example.
Comment by Bigtwich Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 3:05 pm
This work by Gatehouse is misleading in that no university employees are included. I would project there are many university employees in the club.
Comment by DRB Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 3:09 pm
===misleading in that no university employees are included===
They aren’t state workers.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 3:43 pm
“Moody’s and S&P were once golden business names-now they’re like Lehman Brothers and Arthur Andersen.”
Hey word, couldn’t you use “ENRON?”
Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 3:48 pm
harry,
I don’t hate state workers; I have 3 first degree relatives in state pension programs.
I am merely stating that many people where I come from think $100,000 per year is a lot of money. I did not comment on whether they deserved it, I commented that those sorts of stories affect the people who are exposed to them, though admittedly not many people read that Gatehouse story I can promise you.
332Bill: getting a pension of $80,000 per year without putting any of your own money on the line is the equivalent to having a lot of private money on the line. For example, in order to generate $80,000 per year of income, a person has to put a great deal of their own money at risk in order to generate that income. It has been pretty hard in recent years, and you had to be really aggressive (and risk taking) merely to get 5% return on your investment.
Comment by biased observer Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 3:57 pm
After two days it is unclear what the point of these stories might be. However we did notice one of the blowhards from the IL Policy Institute lobby group quoted.
We must conclude they believe anyone who works for the state is lazy and overpaid.
It seems worth noting here that chief IPI Blowhard John Tilman raked in $219K for 2011 and another VP got $103K. Tilman’s take is about 10% of the lobby group’s cash. IPI will argue they don’t get tax dollars. We note their nondisclosed contributions are probably write offs so there is not much different.
Comment by CircularFiringSquad Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 3:59 pm
–Hey word, couldn’t you use “ENRON?”–
LOL, sorry, dude.
I invoked Arthur Andersenin sorrow, not anger.
I knew some good folks at AA, guilty of nothing but working hard, smart and honestly, whose lives were turned upside down when their big bosses prostituted the firm’s then-unimpeachable integrity for the cheap hustlers at Enron.
I’m afraid the some corner-office-dwellers at Moody’s and S&P did the same thing to their firms’ good names before the crash.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 4:00 pm
I have even more outrageous news for the sjr. By 2075 the AVERAGE state employee’s pay will be over $230,000. How shocking!
You see, take the current average salary of $59,000, use the Rule of 72 and an average annual increase of 2.5%, it will double twice in 60 years, and have just about exactly the same purchasing power of $59,000 today.
Does gateway work at polishing their simpleton image, or do they just fall into it? As earlier commenters have said, if they would stop being so lazy as to always take the short and easy way, they would ANALYZE. Take out one-time pay and look at what wages are, including overtime, and compare that. Realize that when you set any hard mark against salary and don’t normalize it for the year you want to look at, more people will exceed that mark each year.
Tell us something meaningful, PLEASE.
Comment by steve schnorf Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 4:21 pm
Word -
Citing Matt Taibbi - nice touch. Ratings of government bond worthiness is more a craft / art than science. For example, the Dixmoor Park District being able to sell bonds when the place had been captured, via elections, by the Vice Lords.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997-08-08/news/9708080212_1_sheahan-bank-accounts-two-automobiles
Comment by Anyone Remember? Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 4:27 pm
=== You see, take the current average salary of $59,000, use the Rule of 72 and an average annual increase of 2.5%, it will double twice in 60 years, and have just about exactly the same purchasing power of $59,000 today. ===
That calculation may work for union workers but the way MC workers have been treated over the last several years, MC will still be at $59 k. (Partial snark alert.)
Comment by Norseman Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 4:33 pm
If I worked for the state I would be cancelling my subscription to the sjr
Comment by kayaker Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 4:45 pm
Many interesting points were left out of that big Gatehouse feature. The writers were almost all from papers other than the SJ-R, the paper sold in the State capitol (I almost said published, but it’s printed in Peoria).
Corrections was not among the agencies cited with high payrolls and if you check the SJ-R’s database that has been active for a couple of years, you will find a lot of Correctional officers and Lieutenants at and above the $100K level. Here again, that database includes all pay in the period in question, base, OT, vacation, etc.
Does that mean I want a job as a road trooper or a correctional officer, at even the $100K level? No I do not. They earn every cent of it.
But I agree with the sensationalism charges leveled by previous commenters. All the data reported is readily available with or without a FOIA request.
Similar numbers and comparisons could no doubt be made among Chicago police and fire departments, probably a number of departments in the collar counties, and more than a few downstate.
There are still a lot of folks out there that refuse to believe that State employees earn their pay and then extrapolate that to a good number of other public employees.
Some analysis would have made the numbers (that you really do have to go to the web for) a lot more interesting.
Comment by BehindTheScenes Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 5:02 pm
Hi. I’m Mitt Romney. Let’s talk about overpaid employees. Oh, wait, that didn’t go so well, since CEO’s still make 240-260 times the lowest US wage earner. It’s you darn 47% that are at fault, including you overpaid cops, firefighters, teachers, nurses, home health aides, etc. etc…
This message sponsored by the still clueless Illinois Republican Party.
Comment by CrookCounty60827 Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 5:07 pm
Rich, I guess we will have to disagree about university employees not being state workers. When they are paid via taxpayer money, to me that makes them State workers.
Comment by DRB Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 5:54 pm
DRB, the “taxpayer” share of university funding has fallen well below 50% in recent years. At one time, I might have debated Rich’s point, but I agree with him now.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 6:19 pm
Does anyone realize how many PUBLIC employees get pay checks from the state for OVER 500,000 PER YEAR?? The TOP earner last year was $614,706.56
http://www.bettergov.org/investigations/payroll_database.aspx
Anyone surprised Illinois is BANKRUPT??
Comment by BR Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 6:20 pm
kayaker, did that.
Comment by Norseman Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 6:21 pm
There is no other reason to run so-called “stories” like this than to unfairly demonize public employees. I assume BR fits into the same category. What better way to turn public opinion against paying state workers what is rightfully owed them? What better way to push for more “privatization”? What better way to help drive down the wages and salaries of all middle class workers? And it is working.
Comment by kimocat Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 6:53 pm
Wow! A lot of these people, no doubt, are OBviously WAY over-compensated! May be time for an across the board 10-15% pay cut for any ee who makes over $100 Gs, with the tough times we here in Illinois have been enduring for so many years now…! And no wonder, re. the State Troopers, as an example, that so many of them make over $100 Gs if they start OUT in this career with an already Bloated almost $60 Grand–not to mention all of the Overtime that is apparently readily available…!
Comment by Just The Way It Is One Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 7:25 pm
gov is handing out some plum jobs look at dr gill but not front line workers
Comment by fake county chairman Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 8:07 pm
So as not it engage in a gratuitous insult, it appears neither an unnamed poster’s English nor typing teacher were overcompensated. $60,000 to be a copper is bloated? Don’t think most people would do that for ten times as much. Nice to see BR has time from his campaigning for gov to post. Third period is starting - Go Hawks.
Comment by West Side the Best Side Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 9:11 pm
Oh my
Multi millionares on the civic committee (Ty) and
the Koch Brothers are really digging.
The want their tax loopholes kept in place.
Maybe they need a ticket.
Comment by Corrupt Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 10:30 pm
For just the way it is one. Either you like to stir the pot or you are just plain stupid. Like I told biased, my Cousin is a State Trooper in the East St Louis area. Been shot at more than once. I know what that is like as I was a combat infantryman in Viet Nam. Something I`m pretty sure you wouldn`t know about, tough guy. These people earn every dime they make boy.
Comment by Harry Wasko Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 10:41 pm
Word, thanks for pointing out the Matt Taibbi piece in Rolling Stone. His blog post about the story was hilarious. The following quote relating to S&P’s defense against a federal lawsuit dealing with the financial crisis was priceless:
“Now, in response to my questions, the S&P spokesman made a series of arguments about the plaintiffs in the lawsuits in question. All of these points came down to the same idea: that these investors were big boys, and SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER THAN TO RELY UPON AN S&P RATING.” [Emphasis added by Norseman]
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/you-f-ked-up-you-trusted-us-talking-ratings-agencies-with-chris-hayes-20130621
This gives me an idea of marketing Illinois bonds in the future - YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO RELY ON AN S&P RATING OR A MOODY’S OR FITCH FOR THAT MATTER: BUY ILLINOIS WE PAY NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES.
Comment by Norseman Monday, Jun 24, 13 @ 11:05 pm
I curious what percentage rate is it for these employees starting at this rate. How many wouldn’t earn it if they didn’t have overtime? How many have more than 30 years of dedication. Your leaving to much data out. To get the whole picture you need to know these factors:
How many are term position?
How many started in $100,000
How many years of working?
Comment by huneb Tuesday, Jun 25, 13 @ 7:29 am
Re: judging Quinn’s leadership — The best way to judge someone’s leadership ability is to examine and judge what their followers did. By this standard, Quinn is a miserable failure.
Comment by Just Me Tuesday, Jun 25, 13 @ 8:06 am
Late to the game because I’ve been traveling; finally back home.
I don’t kno if this is still true today, but back when I was a manager, I ended up supervising a Chicago based operation for a while. The people there, with what I considered mediocare skills, were mostly two pay titles higher than they would have been in Springfield doing the same job. When I questioned this, I was told they had to pay at that level just to get people to work for the State in Chicago because there were too many private firms competing for the same limited pool of staff.
If that practive has continued, it could be part of the reason many of the high dollar people are in the Chicago area. And Blago made it worse by moving more and more of State government to Chicago.
Quinn, here’s a cost saving idea … move most of State government back downstate where the salaries can be lower, the building rent (if applicable) is lower, and in some cases the utilities are lower.
Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Jun 25, 13 @ 9:13 am
I think where IL failed is having job titles like Public Service Administrators that sometimes don’t manage anyone now can earn up to $108-109K. Also, overtime eats up any personal service costs saved from retirements. I noticed most IT staff at my old agency were on the list.
Comment by Soccertease Tuesday, Jun 25, 13 @ 9:34 am
==I think where IL failed is having job titles like Public Service Administrators that sometimes don’t manage anyone now can earn up to $108-109K.==
If they don’t manage anyone, they’re union and they are probably making more than the PSAs or SPSAs that manage them. The 10 highest-paid IDOR employees in the SJ-R’s $100,000 club data base are unionized or employees who retired and cashed in their vacation and sick days in 2012. If you click on the link to see all employees (at 50 per page), you have to go a long way down the first page before you come to anyone who is not union or a 2012 retiree.
Comment by Anon. Tuesday, Jun 25, 13 @ 10:23 am
Let’s not forget that the Public Service Administrator title (among others) was created during the Edgar Administration to “simplify” things as there were “too many job titles” … .
Comment by Anyone Remember? Tuesday, Jun 25, 13 @ 10:44 am
And what everyone forgets is there are quite a few sub-category classifications to both the PSA and SPSA titles …
Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Jun 25, 13 @ 11:09 am
RNUG -
Did the sub-categories show up as a result of the Veteran’s Preference ruling? (Denton v. Civil Service Commission 1997.)
Comment by Anyone Remember? Tuesday, Jun 25, 13 @ 12:00 pm
Anyone Remember? @ 12:00 pm:
No, the sub-categories were there from day one. It’s been too many years, but I seem to rememebr something like 30+ different sub-cats for an SPSA in such areas as finance, health, computers, engineering, etc. … to give you some idea. When it was implemented; I was changed from something like an Information Systems Specialist III to an SPSA, even though I had no supervisory duties at the time.
As I remember it, the PSA / SPSA assignment was strictly based on an arbitrary salary line ($60K I think) at the time.
Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Jun 25, 13 @ 5:52 pm