Joliet Police Chief Got $20K Raise 1 Day Before Retiring

JOLIET, IL — The city of Joliet gave Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner a salary increase of nearly $20,000 during his final days on the job in January as an incentive to retire, Joliet Patch confirmed through a series of Freedom of Information Act requests to Joliet's City Hall.

The substantial raise to bring Roechner's pay to $192,435 was put into place Jan. 7 — one day before Roechner submitted a typed letter to the city's human resources director giving notice he was retiring effective Jan. 21.

The $19,727 salary hike — approved on Jan. 7 — should boost Roechner's retirement pension. The city of Joliet bases police pensions on years of service and the officer's annual salary rate.

Roechner became interim chief in August 2018 and the permanent chief in December 2018.

Last year, Roechner made a total annual salary of $172,588, documents at City Hall show. Prior to his retirement announcement, Roechner's base pay was $161,390, plus $3,080 every year in what's known as longevity pay. In addition, Roechner received a $2,100 annual court allowance, plus $6,138 in annual holiday pay, city documents indicate.

On Jim Hock's second to last day with Joliet, the outgoing city manager hammered out the terms of a financial package that sweetened the pot for Roechner to retire, city records show.

The Joliet Police Department was mired in controversies and faced numerous federal lawsuits during Roechner's two-year run as chief of police in one of the largest cities in Illinois.

At one point on Jan. 7, Hock sent an email suggesting that Roechner receive a 9 percent raise, bringing Roechner's total annual pay from $172,588 to $188,121.

The email, obtained by Joliet Patch in a Freedom of Information Act records request, informed Roechner he would get 100 percent of his unused vacation days paid out plus a 50-percent buyout of his banked sick leave, up to 1,012 hours.

Roechner did not accept Heck's offer of a 9-percent pay increase. Instead, Roechner was able to negotiate an even higher payout for himself, Patch learned.

Roechner's final salary at Joliet was $192,435; that figure represents a raise of more than 11 percent over the $172,588 Roechner got as police chief last year.

Joliet police receive a 2.5 percent increase in their pension for every year after 20 years of service with the city of Joliet, with the maximum benefit capped at 30 years of service.

Had Roechner remained as chief of police through July, he could have retired with his maximum retirement benefit, 30 years of service, because he joined Joliet's police force in July 1991.

As it stands, Roechner left Joliet with 29 years of service on the books, which put him under the top benefit for pension purposes.

At 30 years of service, Roechner's pension would have been 75 percent of his final salary. Even at $172,588, Roechner was already one of the top paid employees in the city of Joliet.

Hock's proposal offering the double-digit pay raise gave Roechner a tremendous incentive to leave the city of Joliet on his own terms, rather than take the gamble he could be fired the following week when Jim Capparelli, the new permanent city manager, started at City Hall.

As a city department head, Roechner was considered an at-will employee, meaning Joliet could get rid of him at any time.

Not only will last month's $19,727 raise increase Roechner's Joliet police pension, it also spiked his payouts for his unused vacation, sick leave banks and comp time accruals.

Roechner got paid $121,114 for cashing out his vacation, sick and comp time banks at the time of his retirement in late January, city payroll records show.

Roechner got paid $59,035 for cashing out 609 hours on unused vacation time on the books. The retiring chief also had 134 hours of comp time, which he converted into $13,023. Third, Joliet paid Roechner for 506 sick hours, which gave him another $49,056.

The hourly rate of pay used by the city finance department to calculate Roechner's retirement buyout was about $96.95, payroll records reflect.

Last Friday, Joliet Patch's editor interviewed Kathy Franson, Joliet's human resources director. She said Hock, not she, put together the financial package involving Roechner's retirement.

Franson said it was her understanding that the agreement reached by Hock gave Roechner a raise of either 11 percent or 11.5 percent.

Franson said it was her belief that the $192,435 final salary included Roechner's annual longevity pay, his annual court allowance and his holiday pay stipend.

Joliet Patch left Hock a voicemail message this past weekend seeking comment for this article, but he did not call back.

Hock left Joliet in January to become assistant city manager at a Michigan suburb about 20 miles from Detroit.

Joliet City Councilman Mike Turk, a member of the city's finance committee, told Joliet Patch on Monday that his committee was not made aware of Hock's financial arrangement to get Roechner to retire.

Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk said he was not involved in any discussions or negotiations involving Hock and Roechner involving the pay raise.

The mayor said he had no comment to make about Roechner's departure. "That was negotiated by the city manager," O'Dekirk said.

In any case, Roechner's voluntary retirement allowed for a smooth transition for new permanent city manager Jim Capparelli, who named Lt. Dawn Malec as his new interim chief of police.

Malec, in turn, demoted three of Roechner's four deputy chiefs of police in one of her first actions on the job.