Recent layoffs of some police officers and firefighters over a pension crisis has left some Harvey residents worried about how it will affect the city's ability to cope with emergencies.
As the Chicago-Tribune reported, the City Council’s decision to dismiss more than 30 first responders came after an appellate court judge declared the pension fund for firefighters nearly bankrupt last August as the result of years of mismanagement.
The crisis in Harvey is part of a larger pattern of fiscal insolvency among pension funds across the state, according to the Illinois Policy Institute. In a position paper published on the IPI’s website, the institute said the lack of money for police and fire retirement plans threatens many municipalities with bankruptcy and is driving the rise in property taxes.
Barrett Davie
Barrett Davie, a Lake Forest Republican seeking the Senate District 29 seat in November, told the North Cook News that much of the blame rests with the system state lawmakers have created.
“The people of Harvey now face critical public safety concerns because the state has imposed a system that essentially dooms local communities to fail,” Davie said. “There is greater accountability at the local level than at the state level, and I think local governments should have more control to address their local financial situations.”
Davie said the problem indicates reform needs to start at the top.
“The Harvey example is one of just many Illinois communities that prove our state needs fiscal reforms,” Davie said. “In Harvey, everyone is suffering: the taxpayers, the police and fire professionals who were laid off, families who are concerned whether their streets are safe.”
A CBS News report quoted one resident, Takeyah Boykins, about her fears.
“There’s always a police car that comes by and makes sure the ladies get out (of their work building) safely,” Boykins told CBS News. “So the fact that it might no longer be happening, I don’t feel good about it at all.”
Davie recommends a balanced approach that blends taxes.
“Most of us understand and accept the need to pay taxes,” he said. “But in Illinois, the social contract is broken, and Illinois taxpayers are increasingly frustrated by additional rounds of tax increases that never seem to catch us up. In this crisis, there is a window of opportunity to bring people together and show that it is in all of our interests to fix these increasingly present problems."
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