Transparency, accountability and limited government are the cornerstone principles of For The Good of Illinois. We encourage citizens to ask their local school districts, municipalities, counties, and other units of local government to show taxpayers exactly where government spends every dime.
Recently, a citizen brought transparency to his hometown of Palatine.
As a private sector executive compensation expert, he did a very professional one-page overview of the village manager’s compensation plan. He discovered that the village manager in Palatine has an unbelievably lucrative employment contract.
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PalatineVillageManager
Base salary = $183,700. Total estimated annual compensation = $350,000.
Then, there is the…perquisites. I wasn’t familiar with that word. Here’s what it means: country club membership, health club membership, and luxury car. This contract has $23,000 of perquisites. Sickening.
Cash bonus = $35,000. Of course, that’s additional to the base salary.
Retirement benefits = est. $51,000. Retirement not only includes the gold-plated pensions, but also a village-funded deferred compensation plan. In this contract, that’s at least $11,000 extra!
Contract benefits = est. $39,500. This includes 90% village paid health, dental, prescription, disability and care insurance coverage.
His severance includes a full year of base salary: $183,700.
Help us take this transparency crusade statewide. As we explore this, it looks like most villages have similar compensation plans for their managers.
Excessive government spending needs a spotlight. This is a national disgrace.
Bigger government is cannibalizing the private sector and it is cannibalizing the taxpayers. More taxes, more spending, more borrowing, and more regulation is killing private sector jobs. The arrogance and aristocracy of government must be met by more accountability, more transparency and a more vigorous push for limited government.
It’s time to drive real reform. Thank you for standing strong with courage and conviction. Thank you for standing with us. Together, we will bring a new day to Illinois.