Roselle Voters to Weigh in on Pension Reform in November

Voters in Roselle will weigh in on public safety pension reform on November 2 via an advisory referendum. The Roselle Village Board approved the placement of an advisory referendum question on the November 2, 2010, general election ballot to determine community support for public safety pension reform.

The referendum question will ask Roselle voters whether or not they support immediate action by the State of Illinois legislature to implement meaningful reform measures for the police and firefighter pension systems. At least thirty other communities in the Chicagoland area will also be asking their voters a similar question about pension reform.

After the General Assembly and Governor Quinn approved reform measures for 13 of the pension systems that affect government employees earlier this year, but did not act to reform the police and firefighter pension systems, many suburban communities joined forces to create Pension Fairness for Illinois Communities, a coalition aimed at bringing fairness to the public safety pension system.

Without additional meaningful reform, local municipalities will be faced with committing a larger percentage of municipal taxpayer dollars to the police and firefighter pension systems. As a ballot measure, an advisory referendum is non-binding, and will not bring about immediate change. The results of the advisory referendum question will be forwarded to the State legislators who represent the Village of Roselle in Springfield.

The Governor and General Assembly are responsible for determining police and fire pension benefits. In the past, they approved enhancements to the police and fire pension systems, such as reducing the years of service police officers and firefighters need to work to collect their maximum pension from 35 years to 30 years, increasing the maximum pension from 70 percent to 75 percent and increasing surviving spouse benefits. The State of Illinois, however, is not responsible for funding the pensions; they are funded by the local taxpayers.

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The Pension Fairness for Illinois Communities coalition, of which the Village of Roselle is a member, is working with the goal to relieve this taxpayer burden while enabling communities to provide their public safety employees with secure and reliable retirements. The coalition consists of members from the public and private sectors committed to working with all stakeholders to implement fair and long-term changes that will ensure the sustainability of public safety pension funds.

The Pension Fairness for Illinois Communities has adopted the following Pension Fairness Platform:

• Enrollment of all new public safety personnel in a modified pension system. This would bring public employee benefits more in line with the private sector.

• Realignment of public safety employee pension contributions so that they are parallel with the level of benefits received. In a stable and modern pension system, employees and employers would contribute equally toward pension costs.

• Consolidation of the public safety pension system into one statewide fund to minimize operational costs and provide opportunities for improved investment returns. The legislation calls for this item to be completely studied to ensure any potential issues are resolved prior to implementation.

• Adoption of a 30 year rolling amortization period for the full funding of pensions. This is a more stable funding methodology than the arbitrary fixed 2033 deadline currently in place.

• Require a supermajority in order to approve benefit enhancements in the General Assembly to curtail ongoing pension enhancements.