Villages don't evaluate all pensions fairly

As a recently retired police officer from the village of Wheeling who has served as both president and secretary of a pension board, I read with frustration that the village of Buffalo Grove was spending village tax dollars to appeal a pension board decision awarding a line of duty pension to a recently deceased firefighter.

The village intends to a file the appeal and overturn of the fire pensions board decision and lists the specific monetary value of the firefighter pension to the village, saying this case "presents challenges communities face funding public safety pensions."

It really is amazing and poor management that the same elected village boards who object to rank and file police and fire pension costs, have no problem allowing numerous police chiefs, fire chiefs and village managers in the Northwest suburbs to move from village to village several times during their administrative careers, collecting duplicate pensions and benefits all paid by the taxpayer.

In April 2018, the Buffalo Grove, gave its own village manager a 35 percent salary increase and bonus over a multi-year agreement. This huge increase of the administrator salary will surely increase the pension liability for the village.

I urge all to research the large salaries, benefits and other pension benefits of police and fire chiefs along with village managers that are often forgotten about when the words "broken pension system" are used.

It is careless and heartless for the village to try to take or reduce the benefit, awarded per statute, when much larger sums of money are being spent on upper management without a concern.

John Bonk

Buffalo Grove