FAQ

FAQ Categories

Account

Customize Your View

Data Errors

Donations

Graphing

Home Page

Information

My Reports

Popular Reports

Searching

Sorting

Workers Compensation

Questions And Answers

Account

How do I retrieve my Password?

Lost your password? Please fill in your username. Note that it is necessary that username be specified exactly as when you have subscribed https://www.openthebooks.com/members/forgot/

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Customize Your View

What is Customize Your View?

Customize Your View will allow you to add or delete columns in the grid. Also, it will allow you to save a customized view for youself to be used at a later time.

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Why can't I edit a Popular View?

Popular views are "public" views which are provided by the administrator which are utilized across the application. These views are read only. If you wish to modify any popular view you can edit any of them and then select "Copy Layout" which will allow you to modify the display columns.

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Data Errors

What can I do if there is an error in my record?

The information on this website is provided by your government employer which is compiled and submitted annually. If you find an error in your record, you should contact your government employer and request that your information be corrected. This is not base salary, but pensionable earnings which can be different then base salary. Pensionable earnings are earned and reported in a given year.

 

 

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Donations

Are Donations Tax Deductible?

Donations to For The Good of Illinois 501(c)4 non-profit non-partisan organization are not tax deductible for federal or state income tax purposes.

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How to turn off the Donate Message on View Results?

The Donate message can be turned off for 90 days when a donation is processed. Donations will help us continue to "Open the Books".

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Can I mail my Donation?

You can mail us your donation.

For The Good of Illinois
PO Box 1188
Elmhurst, IL 60126
 

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Graphing

Why would the graph contain duplicate employee names from multiple employers or the same employer?

We attempted to requested distinct employee identifiers, but those requests were not granted. If when graphing an employee you find multiple names from multiple employers or the same employer in the same year this would most likely be different employees. If the years do not overlap then this would be the same employee moving between different employers. The graph would be correctly mapped approximately 97% of the time.

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Why would the graph display slightly off the page?

Make sure your browser zoom is set at (100%) and the graph will display properly on the screen.

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Why is the graphing not always available?

Graphing will be available only where multiple years of data exist.

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Home Page

Why is the “Continue” button disabled on the home page?

The “Continue” button will only become enabled once you select a state, employee status, and area of government from the dropdowns.

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Information

Why do you post this salary information?

As a public employee, your salary is paid with tax dollars, and is therefore available to the public.

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Are overtime included in local police and fire employees’ annual wages?

Overtime amounts have been included in annual wages when it has been provided. To see individual employee overtime amounts customize the display using “Customize You View” option and select is from the available columns.

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Are there any disclaimers?

All information published on this website has been compiled using the Freedom of Information Act. If there is an error in your employment record, please contact your government employer and we will update in the next addition. For security purposes, additions or corrections will only be updated in this manner.

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My Reports

What are My Reports?

My Reports are saved searches for each Search Area.

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Popular Reports

What are Popular Reports?

Popular Reports are predefined views of data available for each Search Area.

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Searching

Why are my "View Results" not returning data?

If you’re using any "Search Criteria" input fields for example, "Name" for searching you need to select an item from the dropdown. The system does an exact match like a dropdown would do. When you start typing the top 10 available options which you need to select one item to use in your "Search Criteria". If you do not select an item from the dropdown and try searching using your own input text you’re search results will not return correctly.

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How do I search for my public school teacher?

Remember, Chicago is separate from the “rest of Illinois”.  If you want a Chicago public school teacher, select “active” or “retired” from the “EMPLOYMENT STATUS” menu; then choose “CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS (CPS)” from the drop-down menu under “AREA OF GOVERNMENT”.
 
If you want to search a public school teacher “outside of Chicago”, select “active” or “retired” from the “EMPLOYMENT STATUS” menu; then select “PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS” from the drop-down menu under “AREA OF GOVERNMENT”.

Narrow your search by typing the NAME OF TEACHER into the search box on the left side of screen. Wait for your computer to display the teachers name and click on the name. Further narrow your search by typing the SCHOOL DISTRICT into the search box and click on the district.  Narrow your search by selecting the year, if you just want 2010, 2009 and 2008, click to select.  To view results, click the VIEW RESULTS button.
 

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How do I search for STAFF, ADMINISTRATION, or SUPERINTENDENTS in public schools?

Outside Chicago:
 
To find teachers, administration, and superintendents select “active” or “retired” from the “EMPLOYMENT STATUS” menu; then select “PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS” under the drop-down menu “AREA OF GOVERNMENT”.

To find the staff (janitors, secretaries, etc) of a public school district, select “active” or “retired” from the “EMPLOYMENT STATUS” menu; then select “VILLAGE, TOWNSHIP, COUNTY, PARK, LIBRARY”under the drop-down menu “AREA OF GOVERNMENT”.  The staff of a public school district will not be found under “PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS”. 
 
In Chicago:

To find active teachers, administration, and staff select “active” from the “EMPLOYMENT STATUS” menu; then select “CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS (CPS)” under the drop-down menu “AREA OF GOVERNMENT”.

To find retired staff (janitors, secretaries, etc) and administrators of a Chicago public school, select “retired” from the “EMPLOYMENT STATUS” menu; then select “CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOL ADMIN/STAFF” under the drop-down menu A1

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Why is the City of Chicago and Cook County separate from the “rest of Illinois”?

In more ways than our website, this is a fact!  Illinois is designed this way.  The search on our website mirrors the reality of our state.

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How do I search for local police and fire?

To find active police or fire employees, select “active” from the “EMPLOYMENT STATUS” menu; then select “LOCAL POLICE & FIRE” under the drop-down menu “AREA OF GOVERNMENT”. You must search by the name of the fire or police district.  If you aren’t finding it, we possibly don’t have the data in our system yet. The police and fire employees will not be found under “VILLAGE, TOWNSHIP, COUNTY, PARK, LIBRARY”.

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Why do the years of data vary between different Areas of Government?

Some areas of government went from either paper or an existing system and not all the existing data has been converted and is available.

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Sorting

Can I sort the search results?

Clicking on any grid header will sort the search results by that column in ascending order. After clicking on a grid header an icon will appear next to that column. Clicking on the same column a second time will sort the data in descending order. Only one column is sortable at a time.

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Workers Compensation

Where can I find additional details on Illinois State Worker Compensation Claims?

To find out additional details on Illinois State Worker Compensation (IWCC) claims enter the "Case ID" from the State workers Compensation Claims (IWCC) search results into the Case Docket ICWD website and more case details can be found.

 

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