End county pension perks, governor

Maybe it seemed reasonable 14 years ago to give some collar county elected officials 80 percent of their final salary after 20 years of service, but it sure doesn't seem so now.

Daily Herald Tax Watchdog Jake Griffin recently reported that part-time elected officials in DuPage and Will counties are earning some pretty healthy pensions because of a pension sweetener some of those same officials approved back in 1997. They voted themselves into a special Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund program just for county officials.

More than three dozen part-time board members in DuPage and Will counties will get $1.2 million from taxpayers in pensions this year, Griffin noted. DuPage board members' pensions alone will cost $775,665.

We understand some of these part-time jobs probably practically require closer to full-time work, but for the past several years, many full-time, private-sector employees haven't been getting any retirement contributions from their employers.

We have called for state worker pension reform before. Simple math indicates it's needed as the state faces a $75 billion pension hole.

Many of the same taxpayers on the hook for state pensions also can't afford these rich pensions for part-time county officials either.

It's time to end this county retirement program. We urge Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn to sign into law a plan on his desk that would abolish this special pension program.

Unfortunately, even that action won't cancel payments for dozens of former and current county officials who still will qualify for the pension payments for years to come.

As it is, Griffin's reporting noted, former DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom is due a $106,858 pension this year. And former DuPage County Board member Bill Maio will get $101,250. Even some of the smaller pension payouts for this year could be considered healthy middle-class incomes for suburbanites.

Take Bob Schroeder, for example. He voted against the pension program sweetener and told Griffin it was “awful,” but he's collecting his $41,347 annual payment this year.

We also urge government bodies to adopt some rules that forbid members from voting on anything that has the potential to immediately enrich themselves. Many elected officials vote on salary increases, but those don't take effect until after another election. That same thinking ought to apply to all compensation, including benefits.

We understand public service is often a time-consuming and thankless task. We know it gets tougher and tougher to find qualified people willing to serve. But many of these elected offices never were meant to be occupied for life. They certainly never were intended to enrich those who fill them. The pension perks and sweeteners must stop.