Champaign and Urbana government employees see a big difference in their salary levels, despite the neighboring locations of the two cities.
In Urbana, the median salary for all employees in Fiscal Year 2018-2019 was $61,899. In the next town over, the median salary for Champaign city employees in the same year was $80,657.
However, the pay gap between the two cities widens even further when the employee benefits and other earnings are taken into account.
The median total compensation for Urbana employees in Fiscal Year 2018-2019 is $70,739. However, the median total compensation for Champaign city employees in the same year is $114,323. In total, 21 employees in Champaign received total compensations over $200,000, while no employee in Urbana exceeded that amount.
The Champaign employee with the highest salary was Dorothy David, the City Manager, at $210,729. However, when taking into account the benefits and other earnings, David’s total compensation comes in second to Chief of Police Anthony Cobb, who has a salary of $175,042 but a total compensation of $289,222.
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Other Champaign employees with the highest total compensations in that year are David, at $255,664; Police Sergeant for Investigations David Griffet, at $252,832; Deputy Police Chief Troy Daniels, at $252,309 and Fire Chief Gary Ludwig, at $237,483.
Out of the top compensated employees, David received $5,923 under “other earnings” as part of her total compensation. In total, 71 employees in Champaign received payments under that category, totaling at $52,350.
According to the compensation guidelines provided by the city of Champaign, it can refer to “various types of earnings, such as contractual bonuses and residency incentives.”
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While the Chief of Police leads the pack in the highest compensated employees in Champaign, the Urbana Police Chief, Bryant D. Seraphin, is the third highest compensated employee in Urbana. He received a total of $144,961, which is $144,261 less than Cobb.
The highest compensated employee in Urbana for FY2018-2019, however, was Michael Brunk, the city arborist.
Brunk retired from the position after 33 years of service in 2019. The payout for sick and vacation time, as well as his participation in the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program, bumped his salary for the year to $188,571, making his total compensation $194,699.
According to the Annual Treasurer’s Report, Brunk’s salary in FY 2017-2018 was $91,804.
The City of Urbana used the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program to address an ongoing structural budget deficit by reducing recurring expense, said Elizabeth Hannan, the city finance director. Over two years, the city has eliminated about 10 positions through the program.
“While there was a cost to the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program, it helped us to achieve a very important financial goal, which is having some financial stability and predictability for the city going forward,’ Hannan said.
Employees who successfully applied for the program will receive an incentive payment in addition to the normal payouts, Hannan said. Brunk’s position was eliminated and combined with the position of the Arbor Supervisor.
The projected compensation in FY 2019-2020 for the City Arborist Kevin Sanderson is $84,215, according to the Urbana Total Compensation Report, which is less than half of what Brunk received in FY2018-2019.
Other top-paid employees of Urbana are the City Administrator Carol Mitten, at $172,292; Hannan, at $140,613 and Deputy Police Chief Robert Fitzgerald, at $140,026.
However, one similarity between the two cities is that employees of the fire and police departments compose most of the top compensated positions. Out of the top 50 highest paid employees in Champaign, only eight do not belong to the police or fire departments.