DeKalb approves pay increases for elected officials starting in 2025

DeKALB – With a majority of the council’s support this week, DeKalb will increase city elected officials’ pay, which will go into effect after the spring municipal election.

Under Illinois law, it is stipulated that changes in compensation, whether an increase or decrease, cannot take place during a term for which an officer is an elected official.

The April election will put multiple city positions up for grabs including the mayor; aldermanic seats for the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th Wards; and, potentially, the next part-time city clerk. A new elected clerk is not guaranteed, however. DeKalb voters in November also will be asked to determine whether they want their city clerk to remain elected or be appointed.

[ Appointed or elected? DeKalb voters to choose future of city clerk's office ]

In a 6-1 vote, the council adjusted compensation for elected officials to account for an annual cost of living increase of 2.5%. Council action also got rid of the city clerk’s salary.

Elected officials for the city are issued varying amounts of money for their work, city documents show. Currently, the mayor is paid $22,500, the city clerk was budgeted for $8,000, and council members earn $5,400 annually.

If voters in DeKalb decide to keep the city clerk an elected role, that person would not have a salary under the new compensation approved this week. The lone dissenting vote was cast by 1st Ward Alderwoman Carolyn Zasada. Third Ward Alderman Tracy Smith was absent.

In a separate 5-2 vote, the second reading was waived. The dissenting votes were cast by Zasada and 2nd Ward Alderwoman Barb Larson.

Zasada expressed some reservations about getting rid of the city clerk’s salary.

“I think that the salary for that position should remain as it is until after it has been decided by the public whether or not we still maintain that position,” Zasada said.

Zasada originally said she would be supportive of a cost-of-living adjustment to elected official pay.

In an interview with Shaw Local News Network on Thursday, Zasada said her position remains unchanged, even as the city set out to get rid of the city clerk’s salary at the same time, which she does not support.

“It doesn’t cancel out the other. It’s just that the two were tied together,” Zasada said. “The one was too big of a wrong to accept. I knew that I wasn’t going to sway any of [the] council’s opinions on that, so I didn’t try to change people’s minds because they’ve lived it. They know what we’ve been going through and what a challenge it has been.

“Just because it’s challenging doesn’t mean that we should stop doing it. Just because it’s challenging to have a city clerk doesn’t mean that that’s the right thing to stop having a city clerk. That’s not our decision. It’s a government structure decision, and that really should be up to the people.”

Former City Clerk Sasha Cohen was ousted from office earlier this year. Circuit Court Chief Judge Bradley Waller ruled in March that Cohen had abandoned his role after he failed to file statements of economic interest for the past two years. The clerk, who didn’t provide comment during the judicial hearing, had been the center of years of scrutiny from city officials alleging that he repeatedly failed to adequately perform the duties that voters in 2021 elected him to do.

If voters say they prefer an appointed clerk, the duties would be assigned to a city employee. Although the elected office is vacant, the clerk’s duties currently are being performed by city employee Ruth Scott, who was appointed by the council to take minutes when the former clerk did not keep accurate records.

Larson said she doesn’t want the public thinking that members of the council are trying to line their pockets by getting rid of the city clerk’s salary. She referenced a revolving door of clerks who have served in the office for more than a decade, many who did not finish their full terms.

“Since 2009, even the elected clerks didn’t finish out their terms,” Larson said. “I’m leaning toward making it a zero-dollar amount. I don’t know if this is part of it. I don’t want that $8,000 tied into salaries for people up here [on the City Council].”

In an interview with Shaw Local News Network on Thursday, Larson said she felt she needed to do what she thinks is right.

“I did not like the fact that the resolution included two very different things I thought,” Larson said. “It said that we weren’t going to pay a city clerk anything if the referendum didn’t go through and we still had a city clerk position. Then, it also tied it to having a pay salary increase for [the] council and the mayor. I was just like, ‘I think those are two very diverse things,’ and I didn’t want them tied together.”

The City Council previously provided the city manager with some direction by consensus on the compensation debate.

City Manager Bill Nicklas said the city needed to make a formal decision on the matter.

State law requires that compensation be set at least 180 days before the beginning of the terms of the officers whose pay is to be fixed.

Seventh Ward Alderman John Walker said he fully stands behind the city’s decision.

“I just think we’re tired of playing around,” Walker said. “We need to have our stuff in order. Somebody’s doing it. [Executive Assistant Ruth Scott’s] doing an excellent job. I feel comfortable giving her my information when I went to get onto the ballot. So I think we should go in that direction. I’m all for this, 100%.”