Copyright Chicago Tribune
Markham Mayor Roger Agpawa’s salary is set to steadily increase over the next four years, along with the salaries of several Markham employees, at least partially due to their work on a tax increment financing district involving the town’s Amazon facility. Agpawa’s 2025 salary, at is slated to reach $191,227 by Markham’s 2028 fiscal year, which begins in May 2027. The Markham city treasurer and city clerk’s salaries will increase from $45,000 in the 2025 fiscal year to $49,173 in 2028. These salaries started at $32,000 in 2021 and steadily increased over four years under a 2020 ordinance. Agpawa is set to make $175,000 in 2025, $180,250 in 2026, $185,658 in 2027, and $191,227 in 2028, according to a November 2024 city ordinance. The mayor made $97,375 in 2021, $99,809 in 2022, $102,305 in 2023 and $104,863 in 2024, according to a November 2020 city ordinance. The salary raises between 2021 and 2028, which total $90,000, account for additional mayoral duties and cost of living allowance, according to 2020 and 2024 ordinances. Finance Director Christina Fischer said the additional duties account for Agpawa doing city manager work in addition to mayoral duties. She said past salaries for department heads were lower than salaries in surrounding municipalities, which she said pushed up against union contracts. Officials also said much of the raises are tied to additional work in managing the Markham Interstate Crossings TIF, designed to reimburse the developers who started construction on an Amazon distribution warehouse in Markham in 2020. And though they said TIF money is not going directly to salaries, transfers from the TIF fund into the city’s general fund — used to pay city expenses including salaries — coincide with the raises. The same year money from the Interstate Crossing TIF began being transferred into the general fund, salaries for several top positions in began showing two percentages in the budget. Apgawa’s pay was broken down into 65% and 35% on the line item for his salary, without explanation. Derrick Champion, Markham city administrator and economic development director, said the percentages do not reflect portions of the salary coming from the TIF funds. But he has said some salary expenses are assessed indirect, administrative costs for the TIF. Champion said the salaries represent the percentage of time staff members spend on different duties. “It’s simply a way of allocating time/cost amongst various job responsibilities,” Champion said. “There are employees that have some of their time devoted to those efforts and so an allocation was done between those areas.” This compensation for TIF work is necessary, he said, “because the TIF districts would not exist or run without the support of the General Fund/City operations.” Champion said there is no separate accounting or documentation of work on the TIF, but he listed possible examples of work, such as issuing check payments for vendors and paying bills, confirming TIF note financing, conducting meetings to encourage economic development, responding to emergency calls, maintaining the grounds and ensuring water infrastructure is in place. Fischer said because the taxing district is so huge and includes a multimillion dollar facility, it puts an additional burden on city staff to manage so a portion of their time is dedicated to efforts on the district. Twelve other administrators received raises starting in 2024 and 2025, coinciding with when transfers began from the Interstate Crossings TIF to the general fund and with percentage numbers appearing in their salary line items. There was 35% noted by the police chief’s salary. His full salary this fiscal year is $149,713. The fire chief also had a 35% notation on his salary line item. His full salary is $146,358. The 2026 fiscal year budget shows Champion, as the city administrator, with the percentage 50% notated twice by his salary line item, presuming each half was either from different funds or to account for work in different areas. Each salary half would represent $77,438 of his $154,876 salary. A similar division, 50%, is listed in the same budget year for Fischer, with $75,889 being half of her salary of $151,778. Champion, in written statements sent via a public relations firm, said the salaries are not paid by TIF funds, but derive from the general fund. The account is funded by indirect cost transfers, he said. Several TIF fund installments were transferred to the general fund, according to budget documents. In the 2025 budget, the city listed transfers of just over $12 million from the Interstate Crossings TIF fund to the city’s general fund. The 2026 budget called for a transfer just over $6 million. The water and public works manager, along with the public works and water director, listed as separate roles in the 2026 budget, both had 50/50 designations on their salary line items. Their salaries each total to $125,000. Eric Langowski, a data scientist at the University of Chicago who studies TIF districts, said expenditures apparently assisting in administrative costs in the Interstate Crossings TIF far outweigh what he usually sees in TIF staff expenditures for Chicago, which usually directs 1% to 10% of expenditures to staff costs. Langowski also said taxing districts divert revenue from other taxing districts, so some of tax revenue goes to improving the taxing district that includes the Amazon facility instead of school districts, park district, libraries and other taxing bodies. The Interstate Crossings TIF includes the nearly 4 million square feet, five-story, Amazon fulfillment center, south of 159th Street between Dixie Highway and Interstate 294. The facility opened in 2021 along with another distribution center in Matteson as a part of the multinational technology company’s larger expansion into the Chicago area. At the start of construction on the Amazon facility in 2020, Agpawa called the project, built on 140 acres that formerly housed a residential subdivision, “a necessary tool to make a large swath of property productive and to return it to tax rolls.” The TIF is supposed to reimburse the developer for up to $132.5 million in project costs, according to the redevelopment agreement. Under state law, TIF dollars can be used to help pay for administrative costs, but some experts were skeptical city staff spend that much time on TIF-related work. Champion said the taxing district, which includes a partnership with Amazon and Scannell Properties, a privately owned, international commercial real estate development firm, have brought “incredible community and quality of life benefits” to Markham. These benefits, Champion said, include the renovation of three fire stations, park improvements, water tower upgrades, school donations, Christmas toy donations, back to school support and other ongoing donations. “Their contributions have made a meaningful difference in the lives of our residents here in Markham,” Champion said. “Together, we are transforming the quality of life for our residents and building a stronger, more connected community.” The city recently celebrated balancing a structural deficit that had continued since 2017 and reached a peak $10 million deficit in 2019. The city also missed several audits and financial reporting as required by state entities during those years, according to Fischer at a public meeting. The city reached a positive net fund balance of $168,490 in 2024. When presenting the city’s 2025 financial audit, completed by the public accounting firm Crowe LLP, at a council meeting on Sept. 3, Dan Curran advised the city to balance the rising costs of capital projects, personnel and other budget items. “We’re seeing this across the board in the sector, just the rising cost of everything, capital projects, personnel, everything just seems to be more expensive,” Curran said. “Going forward, you want to balance rising costs with building your fund balance.” awright@chicagotribune.com
