Council approves prosecutor salary ordinance; members press for prompt removal of supplemental pay

The Lake County Council on Thursday approved an ordinance amending the county salary ordinance to place pay for 17 prosecutor’s office positions into regular county salary lines, a move councilors said is meant to clarify compensation while the council and prosecutor work to eliminate duplicative supplemental pay.

The ordinance, presented by the Lake County Prosecutor’s office, was approved on second reading after council members debated timeline and payroll mechanics for removing existing supplemental-pay entries from payroll systems. The motion passed on a roll call vote of 7-0.

“Payroll needs to understand that they can’t receive supplemental pay on top of this increase,” one council member said during the meeting. County staff confirmed they will submit maintenance forms to central payroll to remove supplemental-pay records; the prosecutor’s office committed to sending follow-up documentation.

Council members asked that the supplemental-pay removal be made explicit and suggested amending the ordinance so payroll would have a clear record that supplemental payments are eliminated. A council member said the ordinance “does not do that; it just increases their base pay,” and asked county staff to copy payroll and the auditor when maintenance is filed.

The prosecutor’s office said many supplemental pays are in funds outside council control and that those will be handled by sending letters to the auditor’s office. Council members said they expect the prosecutor’s office and central payroll to coordinate so employees do not receive both the new base pay and old supplement simultaneously.

The council’s action will place the salaries on the county’s general payroll tables; staff said a subsequent maintenance action will remove supplemental-pay entries. No additional appropriations tied to the ordinance were recorded in the council’s motion.