Rising costs for Illinois’ 650 local pension funds are wreaking havoc on city budgets, taxpayer wallets and the retirement security of hundreds of thousands of police, firefighter and municipal workers and retirees.

Local officials can do little about the crisis because city retirement costs are largely a consequence of the state’s top-down, one-size-fits-all mandates which prevent cities from actually solving their pension problems.

Instead, city officials are forced to choose between three undesirable responses: raising taxes, cutting back on services or endangering the retirements of city workers.

Springfield, for example has laid off more than 40 police personnel over the last decade. Alton sold off its water treatment facility to help pay down the $113 million owed to its pension funds. Mount Prospect “fell behind on street maintenance” as it made bigger pension payments.

Other cities are raising taxes to keep up with expenses. Du Quoin recently hiked property taxes by 15 percent to avoid layoffs. Danville and Peoria have created new “pension fees.” Others, like Bloomington and Elk Grove, have added new utility taxes to try and cover growing pension costs.