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North Chicago council approves salary ordinance after removing new building‑inspection manager slot for further review
Summary
The City Council approved most of a city salary ordinance July 21 but removed a newly created building‑inspection manager position for additional review and recruitment data; council members debated cost, contractor offsets and timing before approving the amended ordinance.
The North Chicago City Council on July 21 approved most of a proposed city salary ordinance but voted to remove a newly created building‑inspection manager position and refer that single item for further review and possible action at a later meeting.
The action followed more than two hours of discussion about recruitment, contractor cost offsets and the effect of pay adjustments on non‑bargaining supervisory staff.
Greg, chief of staff, told the council the new position is “a newly created position. It's going to divide up the responsibilities of building inspections and code enforcement,” and said bringing the work in‑house would speed plan reviews and inspections and could save money compared with the city’s contractor costs. He said the first three months of the position would “save $40,000 based off SafeBuild” and that the city currently pays roughly $160,000 to that contractor.
Several aldermen said they supported the overall salary ordinance but wanted more detail on the building‑inspection manager’s salary band and on the projected savings. Alderman Brooks said council should “Bring him in at the rate he should be at and move forward,” while Alderman Jackson said she was not prepared to approve the manager’s pay and voted against the floor amendment that removed the position.
Alderman Ray offered a floor amendment to approve the remainder of the salary ordinance and refer the building‑inspection manager position to the next council meeting for focused review. The motion to amend carried in a roll call vote after which the ordinance, minus the inspection manager line, was approved.
Council also discussed whether removing the single position from the ordinance would delay recruitment for other roles; staff said the council could approve the remaining items while taking extra time to gather the requested cost and recruitment data for the inspection manager role. The chief of staff agreed to provide a line‑by‑line offset analysis showing how the contractor costs compare with in‑house salary and benefits.
The council set a special meeting date to consider the one item sooner if needed and directed aldermen to bring questions to staff before the next meeting to speed consideration.
Discussion (not an action) included concerns that supervisory (non‑bargaining) staff had not received cost‑of‑living increases for multiple years and that raises promised to bargaining‑unit employees widen pay gaps with supervisors over time. Staff said the proposed salary bands stem from a previously approved wage and compensation study adopted in late 2024 and were intended to reach roughly the fiftieth percentile for recruitment.
The council’s vote on the floor amendment and the subsequent approval of the amended salary ordinance were recorded on the meeting record. The building‑inspection manager line was removed from tonight’s approval and will be returned for council consideration with the requested financial detail and recruitment plan.
