 When first elected to the Board of (Tax) Appeals in 1988, Berrios was paid about $ 56,000 a year. In October 1990, Berrios added a part-time job as a legislative aide to a political ally, Democratic State Representative Miguel Santiago. The job paid Berrios nearly $ 10,000 over the next two years. Also while working at the tax appeals board, Berrios worked as a lobbyist and a consultant to the state government, sometimes in association with his longtime business partner, Sam Panayotovich. From 1988 to 1993, Panayotovich and Berrios won a $ 185,000 no-bid contract as the Illinois Department of Transportation's (IDOT's) liaison with lawmakers and municipal officials.
