Salary

Reduction: During the campaign, I pledged to reduce my salary from $108k to $60k. After winning the election, I wrote a letter to the City of Chicagos Legal Counsel, Budget Office and the Treasurers Office. I wanted to reduce my salary and move the d ifference over to my expense a ccount so I could h ire additional staff. The official response was that I could not reduce my salary and move the d ifference to my expense a ccount without doing the following: 1. Pass an ordinance amending the current ordinance which s ets aldermanic salary

2. Pass a budget a mendment to the budget appropriation to move d ifference into expense account To do both these things, I would have to convince my colleagues to vote to reduce only my salary and then do the same for the budget amendment. This was a political non-starter. So instead, I am taking 60 working furlough days for the 7.5 months in office this year ($296.16 x 60=$17,829) to keep my promise and reduce my salary for 2011. There are a couple things worth nothing: my p ension contribution and the amount I pay for h ealth insurance is based on the $108k salary and is not reduced as my salary is reduced. So I reduced my salary after factoring these costs. Please n ote that I will b e working on all furlough days. Also know that they Mayor is about to eliminate furlough days for a ll City employees. This is why we are looking for a legislative solution in future years. Here is a breakout of my salary for F Y 2011: $108,000 x .10 =10,800 (pension contribution) $108,000 10,800 = $97,200 (gross salary minus pension contribution) My pay is calculated based on the $108,000 figure and since my job is considered 24/7/365, the pay amounts to: $296.17 10 furlough days p er month x 12 months = $296.17 x 120 = $35,540 (total savings for City for 1 fiscal year) Fiscal year reduction: $97,200 - $35,540 = $61,660 There are s ix months left in the current fiscal year: $35,540/2 = $17,829. My salary for 2011 is as follows: $48,600 - $17,829 =$30,771. While it would have been great to a chieve this pay-cut the way I had intended, I was firm in keeping my pledge to reduce my salary this year. I a m going to revisit this issue legislatively in 2012. I a m talking to my colleagues about a pay reduction that can b e achieved through legislation.