![]() ![]() After working one day as a captain, he chose to take part in an early retirement program offered by the city. Quincy has also experienced the problems associated with lucrative pensions and public servants trying to maximize their benefits.Īfter the retirement of a top official in 2020, a lieutenant firefighter was promoted to captain. Like other Illinois municipalities, Quincy has seen its pension costs continue to rise for years. Combined with the state’s pension debt, politicians who mismanaged the pension system dug a $219 billion hole. Less well known is the nearly $75 billion of pension debt held by local governments in Illinois, which is the primary reason for Illinois’ second-highest in the nation property taxes. Over $144 billion in pension debt for the five statewide retirement systems breaks down to nearly $30,000 in debt for each household, which must be paid with further tax hikes or further cuts to core government services. Illinois’ worst-in-the-nation pension debt has become a well-known problem. Property taxes on a Quincy home valued at the area average $116,300 equal $2,275, or 2% of that home’s value. I imagine it’s the same story in every town across Illinois.” ![]() Rock Island, Illinois, City Manager Randall Tweet summed it up: “We’re just trying to keep our heads above water. Local leaders have been saddled with pension systems created by state law and have virtually no options to reduce costs or improve sustainability on their own. The local pension crisis drives property tax hikes as mayors and other local officials struggle to keep up with the growing financial burden. Pension contributions cost Quincy $7 million in fiscal year 2019, equal to 126% of the $5.5 million in total property taxes collected. The Quincy firefighters fund is only 41% funded, while the police pension fund has only 47 cents saved for each $1 in future promises. ![]() Pension experts consider a funding ratio of less than 60% to be “ deeply troubled,” while a 40% funding ratio may be a “point of no return,” meaning an inability to make required contributions or maintain adequate funding levels – without painful cuts or serious structural reforms. That debt includes $49.7 million for fire pensions, $51.9 million for police pensions and $238,000 for municipal workers. The city of Quincy has nearly $102 million in local pension debt, according to the most recent data provided to the state comptroller for fiscal year 2019. If that pension debt had to be paid tomorrow, it would take 77.3% of the average household’s $46,189 income for a year. Quincy’s average household owes $35,689 in state and local pension debt, with roughly $6,000 of that from local systems for police, firefighters and municipal workers. Even with that heavy burden, there is so much state and local pension debt that the average Quincy household owns more than $35,600. Quincy property taxes do not generate enough to fund the municipal pension costs. Pensions in Quincy cost 126% of municipal property taxes ![]()
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