Schaumburg’s Village Officials Can’t Explain Rapid Growth in $100K+ Salaries
February 3rd, 2009 | by Brian Costin Published in Blog, Features, Transparency | 10 Comments
Recent documents obtained by the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition (SFC) show a dramatic increase in the amount of Village of Schaumburg employee’s that make over $100,000 per year.
Only within the last few weeks has Schaumburg begun to post salary ranges online. Previously, the Annual Treasurer’s Report was published once a year in a local newspaper and very difficult for citizens to find. In fact, until a month ago, the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition did not even know the Annual Treasurer’s report even existed.
The following information is what we found. From 2005 to 2008, the number of Village of Schaumburg employees making $100k+ has skyrocketed from 30 to 110 employees. This represents a 266% increase in 100k+ employees in only 3 years. The vast majority of this increase happened from 2007 to 2008 when 68 employees broached the 100k level for the first time.
2005: 30 employees over $100k.
2006: 39 employees over $100k.
2007: 42 employees over $100k.
2008: 110 employees over $100k.
At the January 27th Schaumburg Village Board meeting, the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition brought these alarming salary statistics to the attention of the Village Board, Mayor Al Larson, and Village Manager Ken Fritz. The SFC asked Mayor Larson if there was some sort of reasoning for the large increase in 100k employees at the Village. Mayor Larson referenced the question to the Village Manager and Mr. Fritz could offer no explanation for the increase. Fritz said “that those numbers don’t sound quite right” and that he “would have to check into the statistics”. Please do!
Questions for Village Manager, Mayor, and Board
It is hard to decide what is more shocking, the fact that there was 110 employees making over $100,000 in 2008, or the fact that Village authorities seemingly had no knowledge that this was occurring. With that in mind, the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition is asking some questions of its Village Government.
Why wouldn’t the person in charge of managing all of Schaumburg’s activities and budgets, Village Manager Ken Fritz, know about the tremendous increase in high salary (100k+) employees? This is especially troubling considering the budget crunch that the Village is currently experiencing and the 369 new tax and fee increases for Schaumburg in 2009.
What are the job titles & descriptions for the individuals making 100k+ per year, and are those salaries in line with the market? Can those duties be competitively bid on and costs reduced?
With the median income for a household in Schaumburg being $65,267 in 2007, why are so many individuals working for the Village of Schaumburg making more than 100k per year? Why are Village salaries so high in comparison to what the average Schaumburg household makes?
Why was the jump in the number of people making 100k+ so dramatic in 2008? Were these small increases in salary percentage wise from 2007 to 2008 or were there large raises being awarded to Village of Schaumburg employees in 2008? Will the Village of Schaumburg release the complete salary history, instead of only salary ranges, for its employees for the years 2005 through 2008?
Can we expect similar jumps in Village of Schaumburg high salaried employees in 2009 and 2010? What are the planned raises for Village of Schaumburg employees in upcoming years?
These questions remain unanswered for now, but if the Village Board adopted the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition’s comprehensive transparency reform proposal it would allow the citizens of Schaumburg to get these important questions answered proactively.
The SFC has filed numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to get more exact salary figures and to find out if our taxpayer dollars are being wisely spent. Unfortunately, the Village of Schaumburg has not responded to these requests and have repeatedly stated to us that “no such document exists” when asking for complete salary data for its employees. Is this a sign of poor financial controls or is the Village of Schaumburg government continuing its tradition of obstructing public knowledge?
When the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition finally receives these documents we anticipate posting these results at our Schaumburg Transparency Project page.
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February 6th, 2009 at 12:33 PM (#)
[...] Schaumburg’s Village Officials Can’t Explain Rapid Growth in $100K+ Salaries. [...]
March 5th, 2009 at 9:12 PM (#)
These numbers are wrong. Gross does not mean anything. There are no titles for these people. Everyone does not do the same work. There are firefighters and police officers that work their butts off for the residents of Schaumburg. You have guys out all night plowing the streets or giving residents service due to a water mainbreak or sewer back up. Being a resident of Schaumburg I am proud to know that the services we get are top notch. Which they are. You can put any numbers for salaries up so people can see so you look like the honest person. Tell them the whole truth.
1 Do you know their job titles and what they do?
2 Do you know how long they have been working with the village. Just like any company the longer you are there the more your likely to get paid.
3 What is the cost of living this day in age?
4 Is overtime apart of their income? Should they get punished because they have to sacrifice holidays and family functions to give the village the best service to the residents?
Make sure you give all the facts to the residents before throwing out numbers.
I am very upset at this as a resident. I hope we keep everyone in office so we keep crap like you out.
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Brian Costin Reply:
March 5th, 2009 at 10:43 PM
becool.
These numbers are not wrong, they are the numbers provided by the Village of Schaumburg. If these numbers are wrong then please contact the Village of Schaumburg so they can make corrections. If an error is revealed I will be more than willing to post the Village’s corrected documents.
I am very much interested in telling the whole truth.
All of your questions you ask are good ones. I have asked them too and the Village has not provided me with those details. I would love to see the Village be more transparent about that information. Until they are we as citizens can only ask questions.
Here are the answers to your questions.
1. I have asked for job titles and the Village did not include them in their submission.
2. I would love to know how long they have been working with the Village and would include this if the Village provided that information?
3. According to the Village of Schaumburg the average household income for a Schaumburg resident is $60,491. Some of the Village of Schaumburg employees are making well over $200,000 & more than any governor of any state in the U.S. That’s a major issue. The more money the Village of Schaumburg spends the less money it’s citizens have.
4. I asked for overtime information, but the Village said that they don’t keep track of that information. That’s SCARY from a taxpayer’s perspective when the Village doesn’t keep good enough financial records to comply with basic FOIA requests.
I try to provide as many facts for Village residents as I possibly can. As you see I have gone to great lengths to create a website and provide the citizens of Schaumburg with as much information as possible in this regards. All the documents you see here are documents provided by the Village after the Schaumburg Freedom Coalition has requested them. This information that I post the Village doesn’t provide and in some cases even refuse to post on their website. If you want all the facts I am right along side you. Help me get these important financial documents from the Village of Schaumburg so all of your questions can be answered.
These complaints and questions can only be answered by the Mayor, Village Board, and Village Staff.
I am not running for office, just a citizen who is asking tough & important questions about our Village government.
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April 12th, 2009 at 7:29 PM (#)
The Village has had ample opportunity to respond in writing or put something up on their website. I volunteered to Ken Fritz a post on this site if he put something in writing to document and explain the jump in $100K salaries, he refused. If you have other facts that I am not aware of feel free to link to them on the Village’s website or post them in the comments section here.
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May 28th, 2009 at 6:57 AM (#)
Dear Forum,
Recently, I filed a grievance against the Village of Schaumburg. Being a strong believer that the pen is sharper than the sword, I documented all details and worked
my way up to level four (4) which was Ken Fritz Schaumburg’s
Village Manager. (My next step would have been the Mayor.)
Ken researched the ordinance in question and directed the
Schaumburg Police to “Inforce the ordinance as the Village
Board originally directed.”
Ken Fritz appears to be an upright, common sense and honorable guy. I am sure he will have a common sense explanation for your concern for those city employees making over $100,000.00 per year. Keep up the questioning
as citizen participation makes for a better community.
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May 28th, 2009 at 6:22 PM (#)
Dear Forum,
Again in defense of Mr. Ken Fritz Schaumburg’s Village Manager. The Daily Herald featured a story on Febuary 24,
2009 regarding the termination of Director of Public Safety
Mr. Richard Casler. Mr. Casler made more than $100,000.00.
The story states “But Fritz said he plans to propose restructuring the department back to the more traditional model of having one chief as department head.” With budget
shortfalls, I am sure our Schaumburg officials are making
every effort to provide financially responsible leadership.
These are very difficult economic times for our citizens as
well as our municipalities. Every citizen should be concerned about concerned about our village budget as well as public safety. Remember it is “We the people.”
Regards,
Henry Walli
Reply
Brian Costin Reply:
May 28th, 2009 at 9:32 PM
In the fiscal year ending April 30, 2005 the Village of Schaumburg spent $118.5 million. In five short years, expenditures have ballooned to $168.6 million, a 42 percent increase.
These numbers do not include the village-owned Schaumburg Convention Center and Hotel which opened in 2006 and is budgeted separately. When included, the Village’s yearly expenditures have increased to $225 million per year, a nearly 90 percent increase since 2005.
This is 81% faster than the rate of inflation.
The Schaumburg Freedom Coalition recently filed a Freedom of Information Act request for Schaumburg salaries and revealed that Richard Casler made $142,264.43 in 2008. Which is a lot more than the $100,000 found by the Daily Herald. Also, we know from another Schaumburg Freedom Coalition Freedom of Information Act Request, that within the Treasurer’s Report that Richard Casler made between $75,000 and $99,999 from his pension in 2008. Which puts him at a minimum of $217,264.43 in wages (not including benefits) last year from the taxpayers of Schaumburg. That’s a lot of money for a Village that has (or had) three Police Chiefs.
From the police officers that I have talked to Richard Casler was fired for morale reasons and lack of confidence by the police officers in Schaumburg. See this article below
Schaumburg police director resigns (Chicago Tribune) http://www.schaumburgfreedom.com/public-safety/richard-casler-resigns-as-schaumburg-police-director/
Ninety-six percent of union members in January 2003 voted no-confidence for Casler and “that vote speaks for itself,” Atamian said.
“That was our stand then and since then it’s gone downhill,” he said. “Schaumburg used to have a reputation as one of the premier police departments. … Hopefully now we can get back to that status.”
Reply
May 28th, 2009 at 10:34 PM (#)
Mr. Fritz replied to a question from the last board meeting regarding the Treasurer’s Report.Mr. Fritz explained the reasons for the increase in the number of employee salaries over $100,000 in fiscal 2008. The increase was from 42 in 2007 to 110 in 2008. Gross wages means salary, over time, special detail pay which we get reimbursed for by other entities, mileage, travel reimbursements, tool and clothing allowances which are provided by contract, retro pay, tuition reimbursement and retirement payouts of accrued time.
There were two union settlements in fiscal 2008 that were worth 1.2 million dollars that were booked and paid out in 2008 but were actually from contract years 2006 and 2007. There was a payroll computer system conversion in 2008 and due to the fact that there were concurrent payrolls going in order to provide accuracy; the Treasurer’s Report picked up one extra payroll. The 2008 numbers are overstated by 17 people being on the list that should not have been on the list, so there were only 93. About 85% of that group (79 out of 93) is from Police, Fire and Public Works.
Reply
June 7th, 2009 at 2:44 PM (#)
Dear Forum,
Living under the eighteenth century Stuart monarchs of England, the Stuart doctrine basically said “A monarch
is responsible to God alone for a way in which he governs
his realm.” We, as citizens of Schaumburg, should continue to question our authorities. Otherwise, we will regress
back to eighteenth century Englans where the King is responsible to God alone.
Regards,
Henry Walli
Reply
February 9th, 2010 at 8:33 AM (#)
I laugh when I hear some of the comments coming from those defending the high salaries of Schaumburg employees as if they are entitled to it. Please get in touch with reality. They are overpaid in this current economy and are fleecing the taxpayers that can not afford to keep paying these high salaries and benefits. I suppose it is up to the voters to exercise their power during elections and vote for real change so that their voices are listened to in government. The good news is we are seeing this happen throughout America with the voters punishing the incumbents with a pink slip for not listening.
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