Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s 2017 budget includes a new, $112,000-a-year assistant to the mayor and pay raises up to 30 percent for current members of Emanuel’s staff, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The overall budget for the mayor’s office will rise by 5 percent to $6.28 million in 2017, despite only one addition to the staff of 68 employees. However, 45 members of Emanuel’s staff are in line for pay raises and there are some small salary reductions.
According to the report, Emanuel’s budget continues to freeze the pay of city department heads, with the exception of Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans, the city’s highest-paid public official. Evans has an annual salary of $300,000, compared to the $186,576 her predecessor Rosemarie Anodolino made.
The substantial pay increase was used to lure Evans to Chicago from Washington, D.C. in May of 2015. She previously served as vice president of engineering for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
The Emanuel administration responded to the Sun-Times report Friday.
"First, the overall headcount in the office has not changed," Emanuel's communications director Adam Collins said in a statement. "There were some new hires and we made some structural changes in the office months ago to focus on neighborhoods and economic development."
"The team here will continue to focus our work on expanding opportunity for every resident of Chicago, and investing in every neighborhood of Chicago," Collins added.
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Police Supt. Eddie Johnson has the second highest salary among department heads. Johnson inherited a $260,004-a-year salary negotiated by ousted former Supt. Garry McCarthy. Additionally, Emanuel’s salary remains frozen at $216,210-a-year.
