The Pension Fairness for Illinois Communities Coalition.

We are working as part of the Invest in Communities Coalition, representing communities across Illinois dedicated to fair pensions for public safety personnel while protecting taxpayers from significant property tax hikes or cuts in services. Throughout the 2025 legislative session we will be focusing on the issues impacting municipalities around the state. Our current focus is on public safety pensions.

Legislation recently introduced in the Illinois General Assembly threaten to destabilize the municipal public safety pension systems for police officers, firefighters and other municipal employees (under the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, or IMRF) and impose severe financial consequences on taxpayers throughout the state.

Welcome to Invest in Communities

We are a coalition of regional councils of government throughout Illinois dedicated to providing valuable resources for municipalities, organizations, elected officials, and residents seeking to engage on key community issues.

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How Are Municipal Public Safety Pensions Different from State Pensions?

Unlike teachers and state employees who must wait until age 67 to retire with full benefits, police officers and firefighters under Tier 2 can retire at age 55 after 30 years of service, when they will receive an annuity equal to 75% of their final earnings. For many public safety personnel under Tier 2, this would translate into a starting annual pension exceeding $80,000. This not only provides financial security in retirement but is also constitutionally protected.

Additionally, public safety pensions are paid by taxpayers throughout individual municipalities, not by the state.

There is No "Safe Harbor" to Address for Municipal Pensions

Many of the state retirement systems are facing an issue with meeting the Social Security “Safe Harbor” requirement.  This is NOT a concern with municipal pensions.  Employees under IMRF are already in Social Security, eliminating any safe harbor concerns.

As for police and fire, according to an analysis produced for the General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability in June, 2024 unlike other state pension systems, Tier 2 pensions for police and fire “satisfy the requirements of a Social Security replacement plan and that employers and employees are properly exempt from FICA taxes”. Click here to read the analysis.

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Recruitment and Retention Issues Have Little to Do with Public Safety Pensions

Recruitment and retention challenges in public safety are complex and influenced by factors far beyond pension benefits such as the economy, COVID and general public attitudes to public service.

Many communities are not facing shortages of potential police and firefighters seeking employment. Making permanent pension enhancements to address temporary employment fluctuations is unsound public policy.

Historical Context on Pension Reform

In an effort to curb growth in pension costs, and after lengthy negotiations the Illinois General Assembly created a new tier of pension benefits in 2010, which impacted pension benefits for state and local government employees hired after January 1, 2011.

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The following councils of government are participating in the coalition aiming to ensure the viability of public safety pensions:

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    Contact Your Legislators

    If you share our concern about higher local taxes in your community, reaching out to your State legislators can be a powerful way to make your voice heard. You can then reach out to them via email, phone, or social media to express your concerns and make your case to not include municipal employees in any state pension legislation. Remember, the more engaged citizens are in the political process, the more responsive and effective government can be.

    CONTACT THEM TODAY