Return Board Member salaries back to 1997 levels

The DuPage County Board recently approved a “doomsday” budget that will return the budget back to 1999 levels and the employee headcount back to 1997 levels (if the sales tax referendum doesn’t pass in February).

How about returning Board Member salaries back to 1997 levels? Back then, Board Members were paid $27,717 a year for attending two meetings a month. Today, they pay themselves $48,620 a year with automatic pay raises to $53,645 by 2010.

And during this budget process, how long did Board Members discuss cutting their own salaries? They rejected that idea in less then thirty seconds.

Unconscionable cuts in public safety for us or tax increases for us, generous pay raises for them. Sound fair?

But until voters in DuPage County say “enough is enough” and start voting incumbents out of office, County Board Members have no reason to stop enriching themselves at taxpayer expense.

Robert "Bob" Brandt
Candidate for DuPage County Board - District 3