Elk Grove Township keeps 2 elected officials in IMRF

Two Elk Grove Township elected officials are keeping pension benefits, but two others will no longer receive the perk.

Board members last month partially rejected Supervisor Mike Sweeney's proposal to remove the four township elected officials from the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, the pension system for local government employees.

Trustees agreed to remove the supervisor and clerk positions. However, the board voted 3-1 against removing the assessor and highway commissioner positions from the system, with Trustees Bob Ingraffia, Andrea Koshaba and Dale Niewiardowski in opposition. Sweeney voted for his proposal, and Trustee Suellen Saturn was absent from the March 27 meeting.

Trustees do not participate in the IMRF system.

Sweeney and Clerk George Busse asked to be removed from the pension system because the township two years ago created a $95,000-a-year administrator position to handle day-to-day operations.

The township's elected officials must sign an affidavit stating they work at least 600 hours annually, or 12 hours per week for all but two weeks a year, to be eligible for a pension.

"The expectation in our organization is that the elected officials can function with a professional staff without putting in a significant number of hours," Sweeney said.

"If that's the case, we have a responsibility to the taxpayers to not add the financial burden of a pension system."

But Assessor Connie Carosielli disagreed, arguing the workload in her office has not decreased since the township hired an administrator. Carosielli said her office has been considerably busier since Cook County cut a county assessor satellite location at the courthouse in Rolling Meadows.

She estimated she worked about 700 hours last year, when the office was flooded with residents who had questions about property reassessments.

"Virtually thousands of people were in this office looking for relief," Carosielli said.