State Pads Local Pensions, Burden on Local Taxpayers Rises
The state legislature pads local government pension benefits, and taxpayers get to pony up the money to pay for it.
The Springfield Journal-Register came out with with an interesting story about how pension mandates from the General Assembly can end up costing local taxpayers big time:
Pension sweeteners enacted by the Illinois General Assembly for police and firefighters have cost Springfield taxpayers more than $5 million over five years, according to a recently released analysis.
As a result of these pension mandates, cities have a harder time meeting pension obligation and balancing their budgets:
Springfield has faced a series of multi-million budget shortfalls in the last couple years, and city officials largely blame police and fire pensions for the problems.
Pension sweeteners and out-of-whack actuarial estimates have created $162 million in unfunded pension debt for the city, according to Jim Donelan, the mayor