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The city's recommended contribution is nearly three-fourths of the police department's current payroll. The city's situation is similar to towns all across the state. Illinois law controls the terms of police pensions.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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IMO if you are a registered Dem in Illinois and esp. Elmhurst they should increase your property taxes by say 50% to pay for these pension liabilities!!
Government does not work for the people, but the people work for the government.
Pensions are a cancer on your family’s standard of living. This is living proof of it.
Governmental pensions are a problem because they are not subject to the ERISA requirements regarding adequate funding, accurate estimation, and contribution and benefit limits. ERISA pension plans, while fading in number, still offer a good, predictable and reasonable source of retirement income. So don’t kill the pension idea, force the same financial controls the government forces upon the ERISA plans on the government plans as a starting effort.