Boone health board approves 55 percent pay increase - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

By Jennifer Wheeler
Rockford Register Star

Pay hikes for Health Department staff

Boone County's Board of Health approved more than $56,000 worth of raises of half of the department's staff. When leaders originally voted on the hikes, they did not know who would be receiving them or at what amount.
EmployeeFiscal year 2013 wage

New wage effective Sept. 1
Percentage increase Cynthia Frank$78,280$80,116.142.34 percent Amanda Mehl$53,044.94$61,829.3016.56 percent Sandra Romanek$35,650.94$55,526.3855.75 percent Mary Alice Peterson$17.88/hour$21.13/hour18.17 percent Esmeralda Avila$11.14/hour$13.13/hour17.86 percent Patricia Nunez$11.47/hour$13.46/hour17.34 percent Carmen Rodriguez$17.63/hour$20.09/hour13.95 percent Theresa Woods$18.50/hour$18.80/hour1.62 percent Suzanne Schweitzer$19.50/hour$22.77/hour16.77 percent

Health department directors, the financial manager and the public health administrator ultimately decided who received the raises. They based their decisions on what nearby communities paid and a 2001 salary study conducted by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

As a result, most employees were given between a 13 and 18 percent hike in pay, effective Sept. 1.

Financial manager Sandra Romanek and public health administrator Cynthia Frank, who helped craft the salary adjustments, even gave themselves raises. Their wages went up by $19,800 and $1,800, respectively.

Read more: http://www.rrstar.com/article/20131010/NEWS/131019945#ixzz2hNl6qYGh