Members of the Aurora City Council Finance Committee continued their look Thursday at pay rates for aldermen and the mayor.
While no vote was taken to move the question onto the Committee of the Whole, committee members started to home in on what they might do concerning compensation for the elected officials.
Aldermen seemed to agree that the mayor, currently paid $169,020 a year and due a raise in 2025, is paid pretty commensurate with other mayors that are the actual heads of the city government, such as in Aurora.
According to a study from Korn Ferry, a global management company with an office in Chicago, the pay for Aurora’s mayor is equal to or higher than that of mayors in about 76% of comparable cities.
Aldermen spent $23,940 to have Korn Ferry study aldermanic and mayoral salaries. Korn Ferry uses what is known as the “Hay Study” to study compensation for city employees.
Given that, Ald. Carl Franco, 5th Ward, Finance Committee chairman, suggested the city look at 2.5% pay increases each year for the mayor for four years, beginning in 2025. That would be a cost of living increase, he said.
The same Korn Ferry study showed aldermanic pay in Aurora to be about equal to the pay of council members in about 44% to 54% of other cities studied. Franco suggested aldermen get 4% raises each year beginning in 2027.
No elected board can increase salaries for itself. Any increase voted on this year for aldermen would take effect in 2027. For the mayor, any increase would be in 2025.
Aldermen currently are paid $22,299 a year, and get $90 for each meeting. They will get yearly pay hikes through 2026, at which point the yearly salary would be $25,588.
With 4% raises, aldermanic salaries would go to about $30,000 to $31,000 a year. Franco said he estimated with the addition of the $90 meeting per diem, it adds about $7,000 a year, which would put total compensation at about $37,000 to $38,000 a year for City Council members.
But Ald. Ron Woerman, at large, said aldermen should also consider the fact they are eligible for the city’s benefits package. He said benefit packages are taken into account as part of an overall compensation package in the private sector.
He said for that reason, he would be “more comfortable” with a salary raise of only 2.5% to 3% for aldermen.
“Benefits are a big deal,” he said. “It’s part of the attraction.”
Also under consideration is whether or not aldermen should be considered – and thus compensated – as having a full-time or part-time job. Ald. Edward Bugg, 9th Ward, said Aurora’s system is somewhat of a hybrid, considering the time needed to do the job.
He said he felt Aurora most compared to Grand Rapids, Michigan, a city of about 199,000, where aldermen are paid $31,000 a year, and in July voted to increase that by 5% each year for four years.
Franco said he is reluctant to consider alderman a full-time job, because to attract many people to the job, they would want to keep their other full-time employment.
The council has a window until November before the next city election, in 2025, in which to change compensation for the mayor and aldermen.
slord@tribpub.com
