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Joliet OKs pay hikes for future mayors, council members

Council votes 7-2 for higher pay after next elections

By Bob Okon
Joliet City Hall, Municipal Building. Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021 in Joliet.

The Joliet Municipal Building is at 150 W. Jefferson St. (Gary Middendorf - gmiddendorf@shawmedia.com/Matthew Apgar)

The Joliet City Council on Tuesday approved 21% increases in pay for mayor and council positions along with permanent annual 2% hikes in the future.

The increases, which will take effect after the next election, are the first for Joliet mayors and council members since 2001. No one showed up at the Tuesday council meeting to object to the pay hikes.

The mayor will make $40,250 a year after the next mayoral election in 2027. Council members will make $23,000 a year, which will take effect for the three at-large members after the 2025 election and for the five district members after the 2027 election.

The 2% annual increases start in 2028.

Mayor Terry D’Arcy speaks with councilman Pat Mudron before the Joliet City Council meeting on Tuesday, July 18th, 2023.

Mayor Terry D’Arcy speaks with Councilman Pat Mudron at a Joliet City Council meeting last year. (Gary Middendorf – gmiddendorf@shawmedia/Gary Middendorf)

“No one on this council benefits from this unless they get reelected,” Councilwoman Jan Quillman said. “I can’t say that enough.”

State law bars elected officials from voting themselves raises while serving in their current terms of office.

The council voted 7-2 for the pay hikes. Mayor Terry D’Arcy and Councilman Larry Hug voted no.

Councilman Pat Mudron said the increased pay may bring out new candidates by offsetting the costs of serving on the council but said the pay alone is not an incentive.

“No one would take this part-time job if they were looking at the income only,” Mudron said. “All of us spend a lot of time doing this because we want to do what’s right for the citizens.”

Councilman Cesar Guerrero waits for the start of the Joliet City Council meeting on Tuesday, July 18th, 2023.

Councilman Cesar Guerrero suggested the city reconsider the part-time status of council members. (Gary Middendorf – gmiddendorf@shawmedia/Gary Middendorf)

In Joliet, the mayor and council positions are considered part-time. The city operates under a city manager form of government in which administrative work officially is controlled by the city manager and her staff. The mayor and city council serve in oversight roles, except for the mayor’s duties as liquor commissioner for which he gets an additional $7,000.

Councilman Cesar Guerrero said the city may one day want to reconsider keeping council members in a part-time role in which they have no city hall office and no personal staff.

“For a city of this size and projected growth, I think we need to ask ourselves whether we want this to continue to be a part-time job,” Guerrero said.

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