The Mount Prospect village manager is set to receive a $214,000 salary in 2018, joining a long list of other Illinois municipal officials collecting similar and even larger paychecks.

Costs for Metra's administrative workers, including managers, lawyers, accountants and IT specialists went up 54 percent over the last five years.

High-priced government workers cost taxpayers in Illinois $10 billion a year, with municipal managers in areas surrounding Chicago reaping the most benefits.

The village of Rosemont is moving forward on a $60 million taxpayer-funded baseball stadium.

While Chicago-area taxpayers struggle under a heavy tax burden, lawmakers – who continue to ignore reforms the state desperately needs – are now on a two-week vacation.

Chicagoans have been burdened with a slew of new taxes and the full damage has yet to be felt. A state income tax hike, like the one proposed in the Illinois Senate’s so-called “grand bargain,” would only further harm struggling Chicagoans.