CROWN POINT | Some Lake County officials hope to give a dozen of their employees and themselves pay hikes ranging from $200 to $10,000.
They have succeeded in raising the hackles of some Lake County Council members who were forced by property tax caps to eliminate 112 county government jobs last year and have had to deny across-the-board pay raises to county employees since 2006.
Lake County Economic Development Director Milan Grozdanich is asking the council to approve $10,000 in supplemental pay for himself and two other department employees and a $5,000 bonus for a fourth employee.
Grozdanich, who is drawing a $75,190 salary this year, told council members during a workshop meeting Thursday he and his employees need this and an additional $232,425 to administer a recently awarded federal stimulus grant to rehabilitate and resell suburban houses left vacant by the current mortgage foreclosure epidemic.
Grozdanich said the extra pay is a bargain for taxpayers.
"We will be putting in 360 hours of overtime on weeknights and weekends to manage the outside contractors needed. We will be doing 20 percent more work over our 40-hour week. It's the only way we could be compensated fairly for this time," he said.
Councilman Thomas O'Donnell, D-Dyer, said, "I take exception to giving raises to officials whose salaries already exceed those of elected officials."
Calumet Township Assessor Booker Blumenburg Jr. asked the council to let him distribute more than $12,000 in raises among eight of his employees from surplus money in his budget created by the resignation of two other deputy assessors.
O'Donnell said he can't support "eliminating one job and juicing everybody else up with the money. Your office is way bigger than it should be. You have 30 employees while the Hobart Township assessor's office has eight, Ross Township has eight and St. John has 15, and St. John has a lot more growth and new property every year."
Councilwoman Christine Cid, D-East Chicago, questioned why Blumenburg needs two offices. Blumenburg said he will need the space when he adds more people to do the general reassessment later this year. Councilwoman Elsie Franklin, D-Gary, said closing one of his offices would create inconveniences for the members of the public who do business with the office.
The council will vote on both requests at the regular meeting Tuesday.
