“Senate Bill 4175 would allow municipalities to establish OPEB trusts to fund retiree fringe benefits. These trusts allow municipalities to invest the funds more broadly than typical municipal accounts and can help improve credit ratings. I’ve worked to put guardrails in place to protect municipalities, ensuring financial responsibility is a priority,” Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton, D-Western Springs, told The Center Square.
Balkema is right- allowing surplus funds to be swept into pension benefit funds will become a way for municipalities to fund these by overtaxing in other areas. Taxes will never go down – they will just increase taxes and move the money around.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
Balkema is right- allowing surplus funds to be swept into pension benefit funds will become a way for municipalities to fund these by overtaxing in other areas. Taxes will never go down – they will just increase taxes and move the money around.