County Board Committee Proposes Salary for Board Chairman

Members of the Effingham County Board's Tax and Finance Committee Thursday agreed to propose a $30,000 annual salary for the next chairman of the Board.

Salaries for incoming Board members, including whoever is chosen chairman, must be set before the next County Board election, which will occur in 2022. The pay rates will remain the same throughout the next 10 years. 

Current Board Chairman Jim Niemann gets paid $85/meeting, and is averaging $1,800/month in income. Niemann was not present for Thursday's meeting.

Board member John Perry wants higher pay rates, saying it will attract more interest in running for the Board. Others said it's an issue of service so the rate of pay shouldn't be a consideration. Others said some increase makes sense, but didn't specify an amount.

The vote to recommend the salary for the board chairman was unanimous, and will be considered at the full board's meeting on Monday. There was no recommendation on what other Board members should be paid and will likely be revisited at Monday's meeting. The deadline to change pay rates will arrive soon, so the issue must be addressed; otherwise there will be no change in the pay. 

The committee also approved resolutions setting bonds for the County Clerk, County Treasuer, and County Collector. The bonds are already in place; there just was a problem with finding the resolutions.

Committee members also approved a request for funding to South Central Illinois Regional Planning and Development Commission. The agency, which helps with grant applications and provides other services, would be paid $4,583.