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 Public records from Illinois’ municipal retirement fund show
especially high payouts for a select group of former library employees in
Illinois.
Six current retirees from Illinois libraries have each taken home more than $1
million in benefits over the course of their retirements, according to data from
the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. This data excludes Chicago Public
Library retirees.
Taken alone, these extraordinarily high payouts are not the primary driver of
Illinois’ pension crisis. And retirees themselves are not to blame for the
growing costs to taxpayers. But these benefits do illustrate the unfairness
inherent in Illinois’ defined-benefit pension scheme.
Nearly 20,000 retirees enrolled in Illinois’ six state pension systems currently
receive six-figure pensions, according to data from the Taxpayer Education
Foundation. And most of these former workers receive automatic, compounding 3
percent increases in their payout each year.
In a state where taxpayers are seeing among the weakest income growth in the
nation and some of the highest property taxes as well, this system is
unsustainable.
Pension reform is a moral imperative in Illinois – for the interests of
government workers, taxpayers and those reliant on core government services
alike. But the Illinois Supreme Court has repeatedly blocked commonsense reforms
that would bring more stability to the pension funds and offer a path toward tax
relief.
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A constitutional amendment protecting already-earned benefits but permitting
changes to future, not-yet-earned benefits would allow for the following
reforms, most of which achieved bipartisan support in Illinois in 2013:
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Increasing the retirement age for younger
workers
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A cap on the maximum pensionable salary that
grows at a rate pegged to inflation
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Replacing Illinois’ 3 percent guaranteed annual
benefit increases with a cost-of-living increase tied to
inflation
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The ability to suspend cost-of-living increases
during certain years, allowing inflation to catch up to past
raises
And even without a constitutional amendment, the
state can immediately require 401(k)-style plans for new workers.
Without action from state lawmakers on pension reform, government
employees can expect their retirement funds to race toward
insolvency, taxpayers can expect calls for further tax hikes, and
Illinoisans who need access to government programs will continue to
watch those services crowded out of state and local budgets.
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