Headline missed key point about Elgin

Headline missed key point about Elgin

In the Oct. 31 article titled “Elgin’s finances are ‘not in bad shape,’” the headline gave an incorrect impression of Sheila Weinberg’s primary point, that Elgin’s very large unfunded pension liability is a problem. The headline conveyed the message that we don’t need to worry about Elgin’s finances, when in fact the theme of Ms. Weinberg’s presentation was that the City of Elgin’s unfunded pension liabilities are significant and that corrective actions will be needed to avert future problems.

Sheila Weinberg’s statement quoted in the article’s headline was made in comparison to the trillions owed by the federal government, the billions owed by the state of Illinois and the hundreds of millions owed by some highly indebted local municipalities. In comparison to these disasters, yes, it can be said that Elgin is “not in that bad a shape.” But Weinberg’s point was that the city of Elgin does in fact have a real problem.

I would invite the interested reader to go to the Elgin OCTAVE website to watch the presentation that Sheila Weinberg made and to draw their own conclusions. Go to www.elginoctave.org and click on the Video tab.

Weinberg is a highly regarded expert in governmental financing and is a very good public speaker. Any Elgin group that wants to get their own presentation on Elgin’s finances should contact Ms. Weinberg through her organization, the Institute for Truth in Accounting.

Chuck Keysor

President, Elgin OCTAVE