The Lisle Village Board voted unanimously this week to put a non-bonding referendum on the November ballot urging the Illinois Legislature to take steps to relieve the pressure on local governments.
Here is Mayors' Public Pension Fairness Platform The cost of providing public safety pensions in Illinois is rapidly overtaking municipal budgets and jeopardizing the future of communities. Without a more fair public safety pension system, Illinois municipalities will either cut the level of public safety and other essential services or face bankruptcy. Caucus Position: The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus joins its participating suburban Councils of Governments and the City of Chicago in calling for fair and equitable changes to public safety pension systems. The goal is to develop a long term, comprehensive solution to the pension crisis that protects Illinois taxpayers and secures sustainable retirement benefits for public safety employees. The following is an outline of the Pension Fairness Platform called for by the organizations mentioned above: 1. Enroll all new police and fire employees into a modified pension system. Reasoning: A properly designed pension system will create a sustainable foundation for providing a secure retirement for all current and future public safety employees. Why It's Fair: There is precedent in Illinois for adopting modified pension systems. The Illinois Pension Modernization Task Force estimated that adoption of a modified pension system for the five state funded pension systems could produce $53.9 billion in savings over the next 35 years. 2. Recalibrate current public safety employee pension contributions so that they are in line with the level of benefits received. Reasoning: In a sustainable pension system, the employee and municipality contribute equally toward the "normal" pension costs. Why It's Fair: Public safety employees can retire as early as age 50 after 30 years service with a pension equal to 75% of their final pay while contributing less than 10% of their pay over the same period. The current employee contribution level amounts to about one-third of the "normal" pension cost. 3. Consolidate all public safety pension funds in a pooled multiple employer investment system. Reasoning: Consolidation of all police and fire pension funds into a single investment system would reduce operational costs and provide opportunities for improved investment returns through pooling. Why It's Fair: All other municipal employee pensions are already contained in a consolidated investment system (IMRF), providing pension stability through professional administration and pooled investment management of individual local government pension accounts. 4. Adopt a 30-year rolling amortization period for the funding of public safety pensions to replace the current fixed 2033 funding deadline. Reasoning: Illinois law requiring pensions to be 100% funded by 2033 is arbitrary and not based on financially reasonable actuarial requirements. Why It's Fair: A 30-year rolling amortization is more in line with the career span of public safety employees and is a standard accepted by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. In fact, it is common in many other states. 5. Require a super-majority in order to approve benefit enhancements in the General Assembly. Reasoning: Although legislation cannot bind future General Assemblies from action, the threshold for benefit increases for all public safety employees should be raised to a super-majority level in order to discourage future changes while allowing flexibility in extraordinary situations. Why It's Fair: Once a sustainable, financially secure retirement system is adopted, future benefit enhancements would only serve to destabilize the system to the detriment of both employees and taxpayers. This should apply to all public safety employee pension systems. Finally, the Mayors Caucus calls for a moratorium on any further pension benefit enhancement legislation until comprehensive reform of the existing public pension systems is accomplished. To pass any enhancements before a reform package is adopted would be fiscally irresponsible especially under current economic conditions.
What I don't understand is Illinois's fascination with the "advisory referendum" that means nothing.
Of course, Quinn was the champion of that.
On the merits, I did say somewhere here about 6 months ago that to prevent the well from going dry, even the teachers' unions should get behind some kind of reform. Of course, if the mayors' association can't put enough pressure on the legislature, no one can.
Oh yea ,don't forget to put into this "reform" package to leave the money alone once it goes in so it won't have to be replenished again later.Here in Chicago we have pols passing this fund around to their buddies for "investment" purposes and then leaving the tax payers on the hook for the losses.Take this out of the hands of the politicians once and for all.