Many of you have sent comments concerning our pension. We went on a hunt for information at Craine's Chicago business. We found an interesting article about Chicago's under funded pension funds.
The article credits its information from a particular source know asThe Civic Federation Their website states
The Civic Federation is a non-partisan government research organization working to maximize the quality and cost-effectiveness of government services in the Chicago region.
The Federation’s membership includes business and professional leaders from a wide range of Chicago-area companies and institutions.
The Federation maintains a growing archive of publications concerning local tax policies, government services, and public expenditures.
We read a publication prepared by the Civic Federation and their observation of our pensions was as followed...
For the third year, the funded ratios of all four City pension funds continued a steady decline.
The Fire Fund in FY2004 reported a funded ratio of only 42.3%, tumbling from 60.2% in
FY2001. The Police Fund’s funded ratio dropped from 61.4% in FY2003 to 55.9% a year later.
The Police Fund has declined from a 71.1% funded ratio in FY2000. The continued declines in
the funded ratios of the Fire and Police Pension Funds are a cause for concern. They are far
below levels considered financially healthy. The Municipal Fund dropped to a funded ratio of
72.0%, declining sharply from a 94.5% ratio in FY2000.
The ongoing declines in the funded ratios of the Fire and Police Pension Funds continue to be a
serious cause for concern. At this time, the City cannot afford further increases in employee
benefit levels that would continue to increase funding shortfalls. The City should consider
reductions in the benefits of new employees to reduce costs in the long-term
Don't be surprised if the City looks to implement two tiered system for pensions and benefits for future hires with the expiration of our contract Jun 07.ISP pension of 80% after 26 and a day is no where on the horizon for us. According to the Craine's article its not totally gloom and doom...not yet!
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7 comments:
Mike Lazaroo (our pension rep.) was supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread. At this rate the fund is going to be bankrupt. We want answers Mike.
Its not gloom & doom YET!!!! Thats all the reason the fight has to be taken to city hall NOW!! If their going to fix this by reducing benefits for future coppers, what kind of force will this city have? U guys that are going to live in/near this city after retirement ought to be concerned about that one. Doesnt anything p*ss u guys off?
When I said "not yet" I was being sarcastic. I am pissed off about this. I wasn't happy when FOP forgave the City money it owed the pension. I also remember when Donahue was running as FOP President it was always made clear that it was he who got the
Troopers 80% after 26 and a day.
However if you read the Craine's article it states the City's bond rating is still high and that correcting the underfunding is not insurmountable. You are right the City needs to start making corrections and my fear it will be on the backs of new hires.
Good to see this issue up for discussion.
Off topic. Anyone hear anything about Lt. Exam results or the date and location for the second part. I think that the city didn't pay the bill owed to the testing company and they are holding are results hostage. Good for the testing company, bad for us Sgts.
Regarding Lt test: Roberts' class runs through the end of the year, so speculation is the early part of January for Part 2. But of course, nothing official, its not like anyone wants to make vacation plans for 13B furlough.
This topic needs to be brought up not only on blogsites like yours,but in the rollcall rooms of the districts,the squadcars,the cubicles of units,EVERYWHERE a sworn PO is likely to be assigned. It doesn't matter if you're a overworked unappreciated beat cop in the district,a elite "plainclothes" unit,a "housemouse",a Det,Sgt,Lt,Capt,or exempt. This affects us ALL. Many depatment personnel are unaware of the pension situation. By the time this truly reaches crisis proportions,the people in City Hall who allowed this situation to get out of hand will be LONG gone. We as city workers in general need to COLLECTIVELY demand that our pensions are properly funded. We as employees pay our share into the fund. The city needs to fulfill it's obligation to us and PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE! We ALL have a stake in this. One more thing to consider;Our pensions unlike private industry employees are NOT federaly insured by PBGC.(Not that it matters,they're going broke as I type this.)Most of us will not be able to count on soc.security,and even if you are promised a decent amount,you'll still get less than a person who retired from a non government job thanks to the "windfall elimination" clause. ALL government employees should lobby Springfield and demand that our pensions are FULLY funded.
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