Lake County Gazette

State Sen. Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry) is among the Republicans in the House and Senate drawing attention to a report made by financial watchdog group Wirepoints that highlights the worsening pension fund crisis in Illinois.

Wirepoints released a report that surveyed cities in Illinois from 2003 to 2019. The study gave 102 cities an F grade for local pension funding in 2019, up from seven in 2003 

"What we're asking our local municipalities to do is make a difficult choice and that is to continue to increase the taxes on their residents or be forced to lay off police employees and public works," Wilcox said. "The other option is not really within their control either and that is to just live with this until the pension funds go insolvent.”

The current pension funds problem, if not addressed soon, will become a deepening crisis, Republican lawmakers pointed out in a press conference. Accordingly, many cities in Illinois have resorted to increasing property taxes or cut down the number of city employees.

"We added pension sweeteners in there that likely will take a decade before municipalities really see the benefit of that consolidated investment," said Wilcox. "That means we continue to put that pressure on them. And now, we're talking about cuts to the Illinois Livestock Development Group (LGDF)"

Wilcox further pointed out that increasing taxes is not only a Band-Aid solution but is also an added burden to taxpayers.

“Do we support those who we made promises to that have already served at the expense of those currently serving?" asked the Wilcox. “How do you explain to your residents that I can't provide the services we've told you to, despite asking you for more and more of your hard-earned dollars?”

Wirepoints is a non-profit research organization studying the government and economy of the state of Illinois.

The study, according to Wirepoints, quantified the negative impact of local pension costs by assessing the finances of the state’s municipalities from 2003 to 2019. Chicago was excluded in the poll and the coverage was restricted to 175 cities.

The senator also said that “The State of Illinois needs to stop trying to solve its own financial mismanagement problems at the expense of our local communities.”