Illinois has to be the worst run state in the country. Several cities in that state will have to file for bankruptcy in next few years.
BND.com:
Since East St. Louis was freed of oversight from the Illinois Financial Authority in 2013, the city has fallen nearly $2.3 million short in mandated payments to the fund that supports firefighters and their families in retirement, according to an audit.
The East St. Louis Fire Pension Board on Monday voted unanimously to recover those contributions from the city through an “intercept procedure,” in which it would petition Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s office to seize state payments to the city and deposit them directly to the pension funds.
As a result, East St. Louis could see agencies like the police and fire departments without money for daily operation.
According to the 2018 audit by Alton accountant C. J. Schlosser, the city owed $3,358,997 to the fire pension fund, but paid just $2,029,232. The funding shortfall in 2017 was nearly $900,000, the audit states.
Audits from other years are not yet completed.
East St. Louis Fire Pension Board President Johnny Anthony, a retired firefighter, said the board and firefighters union “have exhausted all means of dealing with the city” to recover the funding shortfall and have been left with no choice but to petition the state for the intercept procedure.
“There are 89 people currently feeding off the fund — 41 of them are retirees, 10 are disabled, 36 are spouses of firemen, and two are minor dependents,” Anthony said. “It takes $3.5 million a year to fund the pension fund.”
As it stands, Anthony says the fund has enough money to sustain its retirees for between a year to 18 months, depending on how the money is invested and how those investments perform. Currently, the fund has about $5 million.
Once it is submitted, the Illinois Comptroller’s office will have 60 days to review the pension board’s intercept application, certify the funding shortfall and review any challenge that may come from the city.
BND.com:
Since East St. Louis was freed of oversight from the Illinois Financial Authority in 2013, the city has fallen nearly $2.3 million short in mandated payments to the fund that supports firefighters and their families in retirement, according to an audit.
The East St. Louis Fire Pension Board on Monday voted unanimously to recover those contributions from the city through an “intercept procedure,” in which it would petition Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s office to seize state payments to the city and deposit them directly to the pension funds.
As a result, East St. Louis could see agencies like the police and fire departments without money for daily operation.
According to the 2018 audit by Alton accountant C. J. Schlosser, the city owed $3,358,997 to the fire pension fund, but paid just $2,029,232. The funding shortfall in 2017 was nearly $900,000, the audit states.
Audits from other years are not yet completed.
East St. Louis Fire Pension Board President Johnny Anthony, a retired firefighter, said the board and firefighters union “have exhausted all means of dealing with the city” to recover the funding shortfall and have been left with no choice but to petition the state for the intercept procedure.
“There are 89 people currently feeding off the fund — 41 of them are retirees, 10 are disabled, 36 are spouses of firemen, and two are minor dependents,” Anthony said. “It takes $3.5 million a year to fund the pension fund.”
As it stands, Anthony says the fund has enough money to sustain its retirees for between a year to 18 months, depending on how the money is invested and how those investments perform. Currently, the fund has about $5 million.
Once it is submitted, the Illinois Comptroller’s office will have 60 days to review the pension board’s intercept application, certify the funding shortfall and review any challenge that may come from the city.
