Today we continue the McHenry County government salary series.
The information contains the following in neat columns in the original, but also in teeny-tiny print.
- McHenry County Courthouse
- Name
- Job Title
- Budgeted Salary
- County Share of Health Insurance
- County Share of Dental Insurance
- Vehicle Allowance
- Stipend (which is paid by State taxpayers)
- Clothing allowance
- Sick Days
- Vacation Days
- Total (salary and benefits)
Bozer, Steven K Court Security Ofcr – Union $35,193.60 $500.00 10 10 $35,693.60
Bozer, Tammy A Office Assistant II $13,347.88 12 10 $13,347.88
Bradley, Charis D Audit Staff Assistant $37,138.53 $21,655.20 $1,171.68 12 15 $59,965.41
Bradshaw, Curt A Deputy Coroner/Investigator $54,977.10 $9,826.56 $616.32 20 20 $65,419.98
Brady, Joyce L. Court Admin Spec $34,900.71 $9,826.56 $616.32 20 20 $45,343.59
Braun, Aleecia D Record/Office Clerk $6,386.64 $6,386.64
Brda, Lindsey J Registered Nurse $10,479.04 12 10 $10,479.04
Brendle, Terrance Correctional Officer – Union $78,270.40 $9,826.56 $616.32 $500.00 25 25 $89,213.28
Brener, Connie L Recording Spec III $34,495.50 $16,784.16 $865.44 15 20 $52,145.10
Brieschke, Christopher R Correctional Officer – Union $54,204.80 $9,826.56 $616.32 $500.00 10 15 $65,147.68
Briscoe, Barbara J. Recording Spec I $31,128.24 $9,826.56 $616.32 15 20 $41,571.12
Brock, Benjamin T Deputy – Union $84,198.40 $6,472.32 $616.32 $500.00 25 20 $91,787.04
Brooks, Tarrance L Corrections LT $98,845.55 $15,165.36 $1,171.68 $550.00 15 15 $115,732.59
Brown, Ashlie E Laundry Worker $11,583.00 $11,583.00
Brown, Debra K. Systems Analyst $77,377.46 $16,784.16 $865.44 20 20 $95,027.06
Brown, Kathryn S Probation Off I $36,367.50 $36,367.50
Brown, Scott A Mental Health Court Clinician $51,637.53 12 10 $51,637.53
Bruce, Christopher C Correctional Officer – Union $46,446.40 $9,826.56 $616.32 $56,889.28
Bruens, Gail L Court/Courtroom Spec I $24,544.46 $21,655.20 $1,171.68 12 10 $47,371.34
Bruett, Kyle R Attorney, Assistant $53,447.99 $9,826.56 $616.32 $63,890.87
Bruketta, Jeremy J. Deputy – Union $71,344.00 $6,472.32 $616.32 $500.00 15 15 $78,932.64
Brummel, Jennifer A Correctional Officer – Union $47,944.00 $6,472.32 $616.32 $359.62 5 5 $55,392.26
Brunschon, Jon W. DOT Maint Worker $45,142.03 $15,165.36 $1,171.68 12 15 $61,479.07
Brycki, Christine K Certified Nursing Asst I $13,613.34 12 10 $13,613.34
Buelow, Richard W. Attorney, Principal $69,097.08 12 15 $69,097.08
Buker, Laura L Radio Dispchr – Union $47,944.00 $15,165.36 $1,171.68 $500.00 10 15 $64,781.04
Bunch, Joan E Facilities Coordinator $37,050.00 $16,784.16 $865.44 12 15 $54,699.60
Buracker, William E Court Security Ofcr – Union $39,644.80 $500.00 15 20 $40,144.80
Burck, Danielle G WIC Nurse $52,298.42 $15,165.36 $1,171.68 12 15 $68,635.46
Burgess, Timothy F Court Security Ofcr – Union $35,713.60 $16,784.16 $865.44 $500.00 10 10 $53,863.20
Burke, Amy L. Procurement Specialist I $34,104.33 $9,826.56 $616.32 12 15 $44,547.21
Burke, Dawn R Correctional Officer – Union $78,270.40 $16,784.16 $865.44 $550.00 15 20 $96,470.00
Burke, Thomas Correctional Officer – Union $61,963.20 $21,655.20 $1,171.68 $550.00 15 15 $85,340.08
Burman, Adrienne E Administrative Specialist II $28,477.41 $9,826.56 $865.44 12 10 $39,169.41
Burn, Natalie Recorder Office Supervisor $43,132.96 $9,826.56 $1,171.68 12 15 $54,131.20
Burroughs,Gerard T Maintenance Supervisor $72,556.74 $16,784.16 12 10 $89,340.90
Buss, Donna Recovery & Engagement Spec $30,396.29 $21,655.20 $1,171.68 12 15 $53,223.17
Butler, Darren Correctional Officer – Union $61,963.20 $550.00 15 15 $62,513.20
Butler, Tracy L Workforce Development Spec $39,674.36 $9,826.56 $616.32 12 10 $50,117.24
Cadrecha, Gilbert J Marine Patrol I $9,954.55 $9,954.55
The above total salary and benefit figures above are incomplete.
Missing is County Social Security (FICA) contribution of 6%.
Missing is County IMRF pension contribution.
About IMRF.
IMRF pension contribution is set by IMRF annually.
Furthermore, IMRF pension contribution varies by employer.
Thus there are 64 different IMRF rates for each of the 64 employers in McHenry County which have an IMRF pension fund.
IMRF is a one way ticket for employers.
The have a choice of getting in IMRF.
But once in, they can never get out.
Unless the Illinois General Assembly lets them out.
IMRF has several unique features when compared to the State pensions.
For example each of the five state pensions (TRS, SURS, SERS, GARS, JRS) has its own employer contribution rate.
The rate within each fund doesn’t vary by employer.
That is not the case with IMRF.
Meaning for instance each school district has the same TRS contribution rate, but each school district has a unique IMRF contribution rate.
There are several IMRF plans, each having Tier 1 (prior to 2011) and Tier II (2011 and after.
1. Regular Plan.
2. Elected County Official (ECO) Plan.
3. Sheriff’s Law Enforcement Personnel (SLEP) Plan.
More info on IMRF.
Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund – Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.imrf.org/press_room/imrf_faq.pdf
How are employee contribution rates set?
Employee contributions are set by statute and are a percentage of pay (4.5
percent for the Regular plan, 7.5 percent for deputy sheriffs and certain
elected county officials).
How are employer contribution rates set?
Each employer has an individual contribution rate, which is expressed as a
percentage of payroll and varies from year to year.
Each year, an independent actuary works closely with IMRF staff to set appropriate employer contribution rates.
This is key to maintaining a fiscally sound retirement fund.
In 2011, the average cost to fund benefits under IMRF’s Regular plan is
11.47 percent of payroll, but numbers vary widely from employer to employer
because they are adjusted to accommodate changes in demographics and
differences in local employer policies.
For instance, an employer that chooses to approve an Early Retirement Incentive would have a higher contribution rate than one that doesn’t.
Are employer contribution rates going up?
Because IMRF is a defined benefit pension, employers contribute a
variable amount that increases when investment returns are lower than the
assumption (like now) and decreases when investment returns are higher
than the assumption (as they were, for example, in 1996 through 1999 and
2003 through 2007).
As a result of the 2008 market downturn, 2011 rates will increase.
However, the IMRF Board of Trustees recognizes the budget challenges many
employers face and approved a plan to phase in the necessary rate increase
over time.
IMRF will cap the contribution rate increases of most employers in 2011 at 10 percent over 2010 rates which will help protect the long-term fiscal health of the fund and also mitigate the immediate financial burden on
employers.
Some more info on IMRF.
IMRF is primarily for county, municipal, park district, and other local employees.
An exception is local police and fire do not have IMRF pensions, but each police and fire department typically has its own pension fund.
County police I believe are typically under IMRF.
IMRF just as the state pension funds has two Tiers with different benefits.
Tier 1 is for employees whose career began prior to 2011.
Tier 2 is for employees whose career began in 2011 or after.
Unlike TRS, IMRF does not have a State contribution.
In IMRF, the employer pension contribution is variable.
Contrast that to TRS (teacher/administrator) pension contribution.
In TRS, the employer TRS pension contribution is fixed at .58 percent (a little over 1/2 of 1 percent).
In TRS, the State pension contribution (on behalf of the employer) is variable.
The State TRS pension contribution is a complete fiasco.
It’s been hiked through state legislation, and collective bargaining salary hikes result in hiked pension contributions and payouts.
IMRF is much better run than TRS, although it too poses difficulties to taxpayers.
IMRF has not had as many benefit hikes as TRS.
IMRF has different funding rules than TRS and the other 4 state pension funds.
IMRF is 86 percent funded as of their 2012 Annual Report.
IMRF rate of investment return goal is 7.5 percent.
TRS rate of investment return goal is 8 percent as of September 2012.
TRS rate of investment return goal was 8.5 percent between 1997 and 2012.
IMRF changed its rules for the calendar year 2008 so the employers would have a huge contribution crisis due to the horrible investment returns most pension funds including IMRF suffered in 2008.
There are numerous instances of end of career pension spiking in IMRF and TRS.
IMRF and TRS are defined contribution and not defined benefit plan.
Thus, taxpayers make up any shortfall to those investment return goals.
The taxpayer are on the hook for defined benefit pensions shortfalls.
Taxpayers with 401k’s are also on the hook for their 401K investment return shortfalls, or have to live with a lesser payout.
So taxpayers with 401k’s bear more risk than people receiving a public sector defined benefit pension.
Restated.
In an IMRF defined benefit pension, the taxpayer makes up the shortfall if returns are less than the investment return targeted, and that has happened on numerous occasions.
This is especially troublesome since no one can predict the future rates of return on investments.
All investments always say past results don’t predict future performance.
Do you see that statement highlighted on any public sector defined benefit website?
It is accurate to say the following regarding public sector defined benefit pensions.
Pension funding shortfall guaranteed by taxpayers, no matter how low the investment return, no matter how high the costs to operate the fund, no matter how high the salaries, and no matter how many benefit hikes are passed into law.
Public Sector Defined Benefit Pensions: Taxpayers Are Our Best Friends.
PS
Any criticism of such pensions is an attack on public servants.
You cannot criticize pensions without attacking public servants.
You can only agree with public servants.
Any disagreement with a public servant is disrespect and thus an attack.
So shut up and pay your taxes and be happy with all the government services you are receiving.
“IMRF changed its rules for the calendar year 2008 so the employers would have a huge contribution crisis due to the horrible investment returns most pension funds including IMRF suffered in 2008.”
Well that was a typo.
Corrected version follows.
IMRF changed its rules for the calendar year 2008 so employers would NOT have a huge contribution crisis (spike) due to the horrible investment returns most pension funds including IMRF suffered in 2008.
And by the way IMRF has had an early retirement option in the past too.
But instead of absorbing all the costs in one year, which would once again cause a big spike in employer contribution to IMRF, the costs are spread amongst several years.
So when peeling away the layers, although the unfunded liability is less than the five state run pension funds, IMRF also poses lots of unjustices and problems to the taxpayer who does not receive an IMRF pension fund.
One must always use the latter disclaimer, because public employes always bring up the obvious fact they are taxpayers too, as if no one can figure that out.
They just benefit directly from receiving a public sector pension whereas taxpayers not receiving a public sector pension obviously don’t directly benefit from receiving a public sector pension.
Just to be clear, employees who contribute to IMRF also contribute to Social Security.
If there are exceptions they are just that, exceptions.
Here is what the McHenry County website has to say about IMRF.
Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund
McHenry County employees that meet the qualifications are enrolled in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund.
This is an excellent retirement benefit that also offers disability benefits and a death benefit.
Generally, an employee will contribute 4.5% of their gross wages, pre-tax, to their IMRF fund.
The County also contributes a portion.
Sheriff Deputy’s contribute 7.5% of their gross wages.
For more information, visit IMRF’s website.
http://www.co.mchenry.il.us/county-government/departments-a-i/human-resources/employee-benefits
How about Personal Days.
That is not included in the total salary and benefits above.
The McHenry County website says generally employees are awarded 2 – 3 Personal Days per year.
And the same website state the County Board approved 13 Holidays in 2013.
Personal Days
Personal days are awarded to regular full time employees as established by the McHenry County Board. Part time employees will be given personal days on a pro-rated basis. Generally, employees are awarded two (2) or three (3) personal days each year.
Holidays
Regular full time and regular part time employees shall receive holidays with pay each year as established by Resolution of the McHenry County Board. In 2012, the McHenry County Board approved 13 holidays.
http://www.co.mchenry.il.us/county-government/departments-a-i/human-resources/employee-benefits
Looking at Board Minutes sheds some light on the employer IMRF contribution for FY 2013 – 2014.
August 27, 2013 Board Minutes.
Here’s what it says.
“1. Employee Benefit Fund.
FY2013-2014 budget for the Employee Benefit Fund.
Mr. Sarbaugh provided members with handouts outlining the County’s projected employee benefit costs for the FY2014 budget process for the Social Security, IMRF and Health Insurance Funds, along with FY2013-2014 projections for these funds.
Mr. Sarbaugh noted that there is a correction to the IMRF percentage shown on the first page of the summary.
The 10.76% noted for IMRF represents the majority of County employees, but this percentage should also include SLEP (Sheriff’s Law Enforcement Personnel) program because this is under the Sheriff’s line item and SLEP is 25.17% for 2014.
For normal IMRF the percentage is 10.76% and for the correction officers in the SLEP program the percentage will be 25.17%.
It was explained that there is a very small amount of correction officers remaining in the SLEP program, with the remaining correction officers being in the IMRF program.”
Here is some more information about the IMRF pension at McHenry County.
This from the 2012 McHenry Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).
Page 87 of the pdf.
Page 47 of the Basic Financial Statements in the document.
“As set by statute, plan members are required to contribute a percentage of their annual salary.
Plan member contribution rates are 4.5% for the Regular Plan, 7.5% for the Sheriff’s Law Enforcement Personnel Plan (SLEP), and 4.5% for the District plan.
The statutes require employers to contribute the amount necessary, in addition to member contributions, to finance the retirement coverage of its own employees.
The required employer contribution rates for calendar year 2011 were 10.28% of annual covered payroll for the Regular Plan, 22.78% of annual covered payroll for the SLEP Plan, and 11.85% of annual covered payroll for the District plan.
The County and District also contribute for disability benefits, death benefits, and supplemental retirement benefits,
all of which are pooled at the IMRF level.
Contribution rates for disability and death benefits and set by the IMRF Board of Trustees, while the supplemental retirement benefits rate is set by statute.”
Well.
Apparently the “District Plan” is the Elected County Official” plan?
What’s the employer contribution for disability benefits, death benefits, and supplemental retirement benefits, and is that not included in the above mentioned employer contributions?
Lots more information in the CAFR.
http://www.co.mchenry.il.us/home/showdocument?id=13228
http://www.co.mchenry.il.us/county-government/departments-a-i/auditor/comprehensive-annual-financial-reports
Here are a few telling statements on the same pages.
“The actuarial value of plan assets was determined using techniques that spread the effects of short-term volatility in the market value of investments over a five-year period with a 20% corridor between the actuarial and market value of assets.
Each plan’s unfunded actuarial accrued liability at December 31, 2009 is being amortized as a level percentage of projected payroll on an open 30 year basis.”
This just allows the employer to pay a lower contribution to the pension fund now, playing an endless game of kick the can, hoping and praying their forecasts come to fruition.
If the forecasts fall short, no worries, the employer and thus taxpayer will pick up the tab.
And if the forecasts fall REALLY short, again no worries, just change the pension fund rules and thus defray current costs by kicking some of the costs down the road to future years.