Brookfield Village Manager Timothy Wiberg was given a 5-percent pay bump on Oct. 11, with village trustees voting unanimously to reward him for the job he’s done over the past 12 months.
The pay increase raises Wiberg’s annual salary to $192,938, which makes him the highest-paid top administrator compared to his colleagues in Riverside and North Riverside.
North Riverside Village Administrator Sue Scarpiniti, who was hired in May after serving for more than a year in an interim role, is paid $185,000 while Riverside Village Manager Jessica Frances, who has been in that role since 2015, is paid $190,000.
“We believe it is very well-deserved based on his accomplishments, getting us through this past year with COVID and his experience in the area,” said Village President Michael Garvey prior to the vote to approve the raise. “I believe this is a very valuable person we have here, and we want to signify that we want to keep him here.”
Hired in September 2018 after a six-month search, Wiberg came to Brookfield after serving as village manager for 15 years in Lincolnwood. He resigned from the Lincolnwood job in 2018 after a majority of the village board, following a 2017 election that resulted in a political change of direction, voted against renewing his contract.
Wiberg’s initial salary was set at $165,000 and he received a $10,000 pay bump, which had been written into his contract for meeting certain board goals, nine months later. In fall 2020, the village board awarded Wiberg his first official “raise” of 5 percent.
Since September 2018, Wiberg has seen his base salary increase by 17 percent. He has overseen a fairly comprehensive overhaul at village hall, hiring an assistant village manager – a position that had been eliminated in 2014 — and bringing aboard new departmental leadership in all but the Finance Department, which has been led by Finance Director Doug Cooper since 2008.
One of his biggest challenges since arriving three years ago has been a revolving door at the top of the Community Development Department, which now has its fourth director in that time, a period during which developers have shown increased interest and the village has undertaken an intensive look at how to approach redeveloping the Ogden Avenue corridor.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which forced Wiberg and his directors to reevaluate and reprioritize capital spending and rethink operations during a time when many employees worked remotely, added to the challenges.
“The village has been very well run since Tim has come here, and 2020 proved it,” said Trustee Ed Cote. “Brookfield was not affected as adversely as much as other areas were, and that simply was from the work done here and a lot of it comes from the top down.”
