Chicago taxpayers may be on the hook for added police, firefighter pension costs
Chicago taxpayers may be on hook for added police, firefighter pension costs
Chicago taxpayers might be on the hook for new costs thanks to a bill quietly passed in Springfield that would provide sweeteners to police and fire employees pension funds.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Chicago taxpayers might be on the hook for billions more in new costs thanks to a bill that quietly passed in Springfield.
The bill would sweeten the pot for police and firefighter pensions, but it comes at a cost.
Gov. JB Pritzker has yet to sign the bill into law.
What's in the bill?
What we know:
If signed, the bill basically offers some pension sweeteners to police and fire employees categorized under Tier 2.
About 10 years ago, in response to the pension crisis, the Illinois state lawmakers passed a bill creating these Tier 2 pensions, meaning some of the younger employees would receive slightly reduced benefits than their older peers.
Now, a bill sponsored by State Sen. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago) aims to raise some of those pension levels for Chicago police and firefighters.
Civic Federation President Joe Ferguson said it will cost taxpayers as much as $7 billion over the next 30 years, $60 million this coming year alone, and then $750 million per year by 2055.
It’s a cost that could push the city over the fiscal cliff.
"This is adding to the city's burden at literally the worst possible time," Ferguson said. "It was introduced formally, with language, the last week of the session in Springfield. There was a quick hearing called on it in which the city CFO Jill Jaworski testified with some initial numbers that they were crunching at the time, and then that was it."
Ferguson said the bill amounts to a giveaway to powerful public employee unions that have the ears of certain politicians.
Those pension funds are around 20% funded right now, which is dangerously low. That means the funds have money to cover only 20% of all those that are eligible to retire right now.
Adding to Chicago's financial woes
Why you should care:
All this comes as the City of Chicago is projecting a budget deficit of more than $1 billion next year and some jaw-dropping cuts to programs like Medicaid and the SNAP program from President Trump's so-called Big Beautiful Bill.
Add in the fact that Mayor Brandon Johnson has renewed his call for $1 billion more from the state for Chicago Public Schools.
The long and short of all of this is that the fiscal tsunami is about to engulf taxpayers.
A spokesperson for Pritzker said the bill is "under review."
Neither Martwick nor representatives from the AFL-CIO, which heavily lobbied for the legislation, returned messages seeking comment.