Here’s what your township’s employees are paid (and one got 87K last year)
A slice of 15 metro-east townships shows they employ a wide number of people, ranging from seven in St. Clair Township, which covers Swansea, to 39 people in Caseyville Township, which encompasses Fairview Heights and Caseyville, and which operates a sewer treatment facility.
Townships, which exist in 85 of Illinois’ 102 counties, developed in the 1800s to provide services to rural areas, according to Northern Illinois University. They exist to provide help to the poor, assess property and build some roads and bridges.
More than 225 public salary records for 15 metro-east townships have been added to the 2017 Public Pay Database, which can be found online at bnd.com/publicpay.
They are Alton Township, Breese Township, Caseyville Township, Edwardsville Township, Engelmann Township, Freeburg Township, Helvitia Township, Leef Township, Mascoutah Township, Millstadt Township, O’Fallon Township, Shiloh Valley Township, Smithton Township, St. Clair Township and Stookey Township.
Here are some of the highest paid people in each township:
▪ Alton Township: Julie Campbell, assessor, $64,846.48
▪ Breese Township: Cletus Ratermann, road commissioner, $50,666.64
▪ Caseyville Township: Jeffrey Bevirt, plant manager, $87,584.98
▪ Edwardsville Township: Judy Klopmeier, assessor, 58,932.48
▪ Engelmann Township: Kenneth Walthes, road commissioner, $43,902.36
▪ Freeburg Township: Dale Recker, road commissioner, $62,543.00
▪ Helvitia Township: Randy Gelly, road commissioner, $48,883.04
▪ Leef Township: Kevin Rutz, $12,867.60
▪ Mascoutah Township: Lawrence Muenchau, operator/laborer, $62,193.86
▪ Millstadt Township: Stanley Jarvis, highway commissioner, $54,589.92
▪ O’Fallon Township: Gary Fohne, $57,259.00
▪ Shiloh Valley Township: Brian Ellision, highway commissioner, $36,000
▪ Smithton Township: Richard Weber, road worker, $35,615.91
▪ St. Clair Township: John Carmack, sewer foreman, $65,327.28
▪ Stookey Township: Chris Davis, highway/mosquito control, $61,743.26
Below are the average salaries for each township. Caseyville Township has more employees than others because it runs a sewer treatment plant.
▪ Alton Township: 12 people made a total of $480,131.09 for an average of $40,010.92
▪ Breese Township: 14 people made a total of $123,201.14 for an average of $8,800.08
▪ Caseyville Township: 39 people made a total of $1,520,835.15 for an average of $38,995.77
▪ Edwardsville Township: 27 people made a total of $504,960.50 for an average of $18,702.24
▪ Engelmann Township: 8 people made a total of $92,063.96 for an average of $11,508.00
▪ Freeburg Township: 10 people made a total of $183,984.00 for an average of $18,398.40
▪ Helvitia Township: 12 people made a total of $256,451.52 for an average of $21,370.96
▪ Leef Township: 15 people made a total of $34,448.05 for an average of $2,296.54
▪ Mascoutah Township: 12 people made a total of $237,300.89 for an average of $19,775.07
▪ Millstadt Township: 11 people made a total of $167,084.88 for an average of $15,189.53
▪ O’Fallon Township: 20 people made a total of $364,318.00 for an average of $18,215.90
▪ Shiloh Valley Township: 8 people made a total of $93,120.00 for an average of $11,640.00
▪ Smithton Township: 12 people made a total of $125,252.70 for an average of $10,437.73
▪ St. Clair Township: 20 people made a total of $784,941 for an average of $39,247
▪ Stookey Township: 16 people made a total of $418,784.41 for an average of $26,174.03
The BND database contains more than 140,000 public salary records since 2011. The data is gathered through Freedom of Information Act requests.
The database gives basic compensation information and does not typically include retirement or insurance benefits, though some records may. In addition, some government bodies operate on a fiscal year while others operate on a calendar year, so comparisons are not always the same for the exact same time period.
Also, someone’s total pay may be more than their base pay. Some teachers, for example, make extra money by coaching sports teams. And, not everyone’s salaries may be paid by that unit. Some people may be paid through grants or state or federal government.
More schools, cities, townships, villages and other layers of government in the metro-east will be added periodically.
Casey Bischel: 618-239-2655, @CaseyBischel
This story was originally published September 7, 2017 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Here’s what your township’s employees are paid (and one got 87K last year)."