Rockford City Council debates pay raise for mayor and aldermen

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our free e-newsletter

ROCKFORD — City Council members are considering increasing the salary for Rockford’s next mayor by nearly 15% and bumping the pay for aldermen for the first time in more than 20 years.

Members of the council’s Finance & Personnel Committee debated the matter for nearly a half-hour on Monday night before moving it toward full City Council in a 3-2 vote. Aldermen Jonathan Logemann and Chad Tuneberg voted against the measure.

“As people sit around their kitchen table and struggle to make ends meet, here we are ready to give raises to — whether it’s us or someone else sitting in our seat,” Tuneberg said.

More news: Benny’s to open 2nd and 3rd locations in former Machesney Park Mall and former Johnny Pamcakes

State law requires that government bodies set their salaries at least 180 days before the start of the next term. That’s done so that elected officials cannot adjust their own salary while in office, but rather must set the compensation for whomever is elected to the position.

However, some aldermen argued that it will still be looked at by the public as approving their own pay increase because they may be preparing to run for reelection. Municipal offices, including City Council and the mayor, are next up for election in about a year on April 1, 2025.

“I see this as voting on our own pay raises and that doesn’t sit well with me,” Logemann said. “I worry that the broader public would see this as dirty stinkin’ politicians looking out for themselves.”

The proposal prepared by the city’s Finance Department calls for increasing the next mayor’s salary from $129,730 to $149,000 with annual 2% increases each Jan. 1 of the four-year term. The salary would be effective May 5, 2025.

City staff said they used Aurora, the state’s second-most populous city, for salary comparison. There, the mayor earns $169,014. The total pay between the mayor and city administrator, the top non-elected staff job, is more than $422,000. In Rockford, the state’s fifth-largest city, the combined salary of both those roles will be less than $320,000 if the raise is approved.

The Rockford mayor also receives health insurance and retirement benefits. The total compensation when factoring in those benefits is nearly $174,000 this year, according to the city’s salary database. The mayor also gets use of a city vehicle.

The pay for the city’s 14 aldermen would increase from $12,000 annually to $16,000 under the proposal. Pay for City Council members was last increased from $10,500 to $12,000 in 2003.

“I don’t think the timing is ever going to be good,” Alderman Kevin Frost said. “If someone thinks that any of us as aldermen are either going to run or not going to run because of a pay increase, and correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t think that’s why all of us are here. …

“The timing is never going to be good, but I don’t think it’s going to be harmful. If you have a resident that called you and was asking about an extra $4,000 you can easily explain how and why it took place.”

Aldermen also receive health insurance and retirement benefits, which can boost compensation to more than $38,000 in some instances, depending on the health plan and if an alderman participates in it, according to the database.

The two salary adjustments were moved forward in a single vote Monday night, but some aldermen said they want to tackle the proposed compensation separately when it goes before the full council next month.

The City Council next regular meeting is on May 6.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas