The head of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, or IMRF, has dismissed calls for pension reform, disregarding the fact that pensions aren’t manageable, benefits aren’t affordable, and previous “reforms” propped up pensions on the backs of new workers.
A new Chicago financial report shows the city’s total unfunded liabilities have jumped by over $17 billion, growing to nearly $24 billion in 2015 from $6.5 billion in 2014.
Until CPS passes necessary spending and pension reforms, giving any additional money to the system will only reward officials’ mismanagement and reckless behavior.
Pension funds aren’t immune to the volatility of the stock market. Even before Brexit, Moody’s warned that low investment returns are already putting Chicago’s pension funds at risk. A major stock market correction or another recession just might put Chicago and CPS over the edge if their already-underfunded pension systems collapse.
Chicago’s four city-run pension funds’ poor returns on investment in 2015 are a good reminder why defined-benefit pensions are a failure for both taxpayers and government workers.
On May 30, the General Assembly voted to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to delay payments to Chicago’s police and fire pension funds – at a cost to Chicago taxpayers of an additional $18.6 billion over the next 40 years.