Study: Glenview Village Manager Second Highest Paid in Illinois

With an annual salary of $245,653 in 2011, Glenview Village Manager Todd Hileman is the No. 2 highest paid village manager in the state of Illinois, according to a new study by For The Good of Illinois, a conservative leaning public interest group.

Additionally, Hileman was one of seven Village Managers who made more money than Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the study said.

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Other burbs with managers who also banked more than Emanuel last year include: Northbrook, Highland Park, Skokie, Schaumburg, Grayslake and Gurnee.

The study, which lists the 13 highest paid village managers in Illinois, also said Hileman’s salary has seen rapid rise in the last six years, increasing 34 percent since 2005 when he made $182,800.

Although Hileman’s salary went up significantly, total salaries in Glenview have only gone up modestly, the study said. In 2005, total salaries were $29,463,269; in 2011, they were $31,916,368.

Village supports Hileman's salary

Glenview Patch contacted several Village officials including Village President Kerry Cummings and Village Communications Director Lynne Stiefel to comment on the study. 

“The Village of Glenview Board of Trustees is responsible for the hiring and salary of the Village Manager," Cummings told Patch via e-mail.

"Our Board hired Todd Hileman to bring 'private-sector type thinking and management' to government," she continued. " of the Village through a wide variety of initiatives – municipal partnering, exploring alternative delivery methods, testing service levels, cross training and  privatization to name a few.”

Stiefel pointed to several 'dramatic changes' Glenview has implemented since Hileman joined the Village including continued budget reduction efforts. (See PDFs above for more details from the Village).

According to the current budget proposal from the Village of Glenview, the Village intends to balance its budget and not raise taxes in the process.

While the year-to-year budget is balanced, according to Open the Books, For The Good of Illinois’ data mining initiative of Illinois municipal budgets, Glenview has increased its total appropriations from $87,049,066 in 2005 to $182,488,880 today.

Policy Director speaks to Patch

Bruno Behrend, the policy director at For The Good of Illinois, told Patch the watchdog group only looked at budget items and does not judge the overall worth of any specific village manager.

With that caveat, Behrend emphasized that larger salaries weren’t only a current commitment but . Recently, pensions have  and nationally, playing a critical role in the unsuccessful recall election of Governor Scott Walker. 

Behrend told Glenview Patch that he believes the numbers his group lists for compensation are a closer depiction of actual cost to local taxpayers.

“Our data represents the earned wages as they are reported to the various pension systems," he said. "It is a more accurate representation of the true cost to the taxpayer than the base salary contract.”