The DuPage County Board approved a pay schedule Tuesday night that will maintain the salaries of 12 of the board’s 18 members at their current level for the next four years.

Two-thirds of the board seats are up for election in November, and state law requires the board to set a pay schedule 180 days before the next term begins on Dec. 1. The members who are sworn in this year will earn $50,079 each year through 2012.

County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom said the board will try to make the pay of all members equal during the next four years, either by decreasing pay for the six seats up for election in 2010 or increasing the pay for the other 12 seats in 2012.

“We’ve always tried to keep the pay of the County Board members equalized,” Schillerstrom said. “Obviously, you don’t want one group making more than the other.”

The board also eliminated the $3,000 annual stipend for County Board committee chairmen and the $1,000 stipend for vice chairmen. The six members up for re-election in 2010 will be able to continue collecting those stipends until the end of their current term, although in the past, some chairmen have chosen to give back their stipends.

In a separate measure, the board also eliminated mileage reimbursements for County Board members who use their personal vehicles when traveling on county business. At the same time, the board raised the amount county employees receive for mileage to bring it in line with the current standard set by the Internal Revenue Service.

Board member Kyle Gilgis, R-3rd District, of Downers Grove cast the lone vote against eliminating the mileage payments for board members. While Gilgis said she never asks for reimbursement when traveling within her district, she receives payments for traveling to and from the county government campus in Wheaton.

“This is where the decisions and the work is done,” Gilgis said. “I listen to my constituents in district; I work for them here. ... To diminish what we do by eliminating the mileage is a shame because we deserve that; we work for it; and it helps us to represent our districts better.”

The board also approved pay schedules for the countywide offices up for election in November. The auditor, recorder of deeds and circuit court clerk will receive 3 percent raises each year for the next four years. The coroner will receive a 10 percent raise in 2009 to make the salary equal to that of the auditor and recorder of deeds and will receive a 3 percent raise annually for the following three years.