PART II

1973 Salary Study of CHICAGO Suburban Park Districts

At the request of IPRS and IAPD, this writer was asked to gather and analyze further data relative to salaries paid to full time park and recreation personnel in selected counties surrounding the Chicago suburban area.

There were 43 park districts included in this particular study. There were six counties in the Chicago suburban area represented. These counties were: Cook, DuPage, Will, Lake, Kane, and McHenry.

The respondents were categorized on the basis of assessed valuation and put into selected categories. The assessed valuations were divided into those departments having a valuation of under $125,000,000 and those having an assessed valuation over $125,000,000.

The staff included in the study were: Top Executive of Department, Second Responsible Person, Top Recreation Person, Person in Charge of Physical Plant, Supervisor (park, playground, community centers, etc.), and Specialist (harbor masters, zoo directors, etc.).

The data analysis is in three parts: Part I is the composite salary of all personnel in the districts in the six selected counties; Part II includes all personnel in the districts having a valuation of less than $125,000,000; and, Part III includes all personnel in the districts having a valuation of more than $125,000,000. Salaries are presented in terms of annual salary and based upon the highest, lowest, and mean salaries paid to personnel in the different categories as listed in the tables.

COMPOSITE SALARIES

Table I presents data which reflects the status of all full-time park and recreation personnel included in this study. The mean salary in each category in Table I is higher than the mean composite salary for all personnel in the Illinois Park Districts reported on a previous page. There was one exception and that would be in the category of Supervisor. That difference was a matter of approximately $500.00 lower.

In the categories of Top Recreation Person, Person in charge of physical plant, and supervisor, the highest salaries were not found in the Chicago suburban area.

The differences here included $3,250.00 in the category of Top Recreation Person, a difference of $3,500.00 in the category of Person in Charge of Physical Plant, and a difference of $4,348.00 in the category of Supervisor. This is to say that higher salaries in these categories were paid outside of the six selected counties based upon data of the state-wide survey.

SALARIES IN DEPARTMENTS WITH A VALUATION LESS THAN $125,000,000

Table II presents data which describes the salaries of full-time park and recreation personnel in Chicago suburban park districts with a valuation of less than $125,000,000. There is a difference between the mean averages when compared with personnel in departments with valuations of over $125,000,000. The difference, in most cases, is around $1,000.00 with the exception of Supervisor. It appears that most supervisors earn an average salary of around $9,000-$9,500 in each assessed valuation comparison.

SALARIES IN DEPARTMENTS WITH A VALUATION MORE THAN $125,000,000

Table III data describes the salaries of full-time park and recreation personnel in Chicago suburban park districts with a valuation of more than $125,000,000. It can be quickly noted by the reader that a new category of recreation leader

Illinois Parks and Recreation 23 November/December, 1973

appeared.

Most of the data reported did not mention recreation leaders, since they were not specifically asked for. However, the specialists category encompasses many areas of leadership, ranging from golf experts, management personnel to ice rink management, to greenskeepers, landscape architects, and other special program areas.

SUMMARY

Since the data in the tables reflect a current status of those six counties responding, it is deemed unnecessary to attempt to go into any detail in analysis. However, similar studies can be made in the future years using this data as a basis for comparison. Should other suburban counties want to be included in this study, it would be helpful to know.

In the area of fringe benefits, after analyzing the data, it is very apparent that 96% of the park districts in the Chicago suburban area have established policies and practices in the areas of vacation, sick leave, pension, convention expenses, insurance, and use of vehicles. In some categories there is a 100 per cent plan, especially vacation, sick leave, pension, insurance, and convention expenses.

(Editors Note: Many thanks to Dr. O'Brien for his work on the salaries surveys. He is presently the chairman of the Department of Recreation at Southern Illinois University.)

Illinois Parks and Recreation 24 November/December, 1973