Cook County
Civic Federation: Funding Continues To Decline For Chicago-Area Public Employee Pension Funds
The Chicago-based Civic Federation is out with a new report about the health of Chicago-area public employee pension funds. The independent, non-partisan government research organization that provides analysis and recommendations on government finance issues for the Chicago region and State of Illinois put out the following news release this morning:
Aggregate Unfunded Liability for Chicago-area Public Pension Funds Increased by $4.6 Billion in FY2011
(CHICAGO) A Civic Federation report released today examines the continued funding decline of Chicago-area public employee pension funds. Unfunded liabilities for the ten funds analyzed in the report increased to $32.0 billion in fiscal year 2011 from $27.4 billion in fiscal year 2010, an increase of 16.7% according to the most recent audited data available. For all pension funds supported by the taxes of Chicago residents, including statewide funds, the total unfunded liabilities reached $16,914 per Chicago resident in FY2011.
“Without comprehensive reforms, this staggering level of pension obligations will soon mean dramatic tax increases, significant service cuts or both for Chicago residents,” said Civic Federation President Laurence Msall. “Illinois and local lawmakers owe it to taxpayers and public employees to agree on reforms that will significantly reduce pension costs for our state and local governments and ensure that the funds remain solvent for current and future public employees.” In the report, the Federation urges local governments to develop pension reform frameworks suited to their own employee population, statutory provisions and funding levels. The report cites Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer’s OpenPensions.org site as an example of transparently advocating for changes tailored to the needs of the County’s pension fund.
Each of the ten funds analyzed in the report experienced sharp funding declines in the last decade. On average, the ten funds had an actuarial funding level of 50.8% in FY2011, down from 80.3% in FY2002. All ten funds are now funded below 65%, ranging from a low of 28.3% for the Fire Fund to a high of 64.9% for the Laborers’ Fund.
The declining health of Chicago-area public pension funds is due in large part to inadequate employer contributions over a sustained period and recent investment losses. All of the local funds analyzed received their statutorily required employer contributions in FY2011. However, the employer contribution level set by State statute was approximately $1.6 billion short of the $2.5 billion level necessary to cover current costs for the funds and reduce their unfunded liabilities over a 30-year timeframe.
Adequate funding levels are likely to be even more difficult to attain in the future because the funds have fewer employees to support a rising number of beneficiaries. In FY2011 the ten funds had 1.16 active employees for every beneficiary, down from 1.65 actives per beneficiary in FY2002. Six of the ten funds – the Police, Laborers’, MWRD, Forest Preserve, CTA and Park District Funds – had more beneficiaries than active employees in FY2011.
The Federation’s analysis reviews the FY2011 actuarial valuation reports and financial statements for the City of Chicago’s Police, Fire, Municipal and Laborers’ Funds, the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund and the pension funds of Cook County, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Chicago Park District, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and the Chicago Transit Authority. FY2011 data is the most recent audited data available for all ten funds.
The full 79-page report, available at www.civicfed.org, is intended to provide policymakers, pension trustees, pension fund members and taxpayers with the resources to make informed decisions regarding public employee retirement benefits.
(Editor’s note: Italics added for emphasis)
Even though I’ll be moving out of Chicago very soon, I’ll still be living in Cook County. As such, I won’t be surprised to get hit with more fees and taxes, in conjunction with less government services, as financial challenges grow at the county and state level.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Illinois Senate Could Vote On Right To Carry Legislation Friday
In Illinois, right to carry legislation emerged today from the state’s Senate Executive Committee, and could be voted on by the entire chamber as early as tomorrow. Lauren Leone-Cross reported on The State Journal-Register (Springfield) website this afternoon:
A Chicago Democrat’s restrictive concealed-carry legislation made it through a Senate committee Thursday, with opponents vowing again to fight its passage.
The measure, which gives local law enforcement veto power for permits and home-rule municipalities additional say over where people can carry a weapon in public, passed the Senate Executive Committee by a party-line 10-4 vote.
Dave McKinney blogged about Illinois House Bill 183 this afternoon on the Chicago Sun-Times website. On the Sun-Times Politics blog, McKinney wrote:
Within Chicago, [State Senator (D-Chicago) Kwame] Raoul’s legislation would require police Supt. Garry McCarthy to sign off on all concealed-carry applicants before they could get permits from the Illinois State Police, setting up what gun-rights advocates fear would be a choke-point that could keep city gun owners from getting licenses…
Raoul’s bill, which could be voted on by the Senate Friday, also would permit Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and other sheriffs to lodge objections to any concealed-carry applicants that the State Police would have to consider along with 17 other qualifying hurdles.
Among those requirements are the broad standards of whether an applicant demonstrates “good moral character” and whether the issuance of a concealed-carry license to that person is “consistent with public safety.”
Rather than “shall-issue” right to carry, Illinois residents as a whole would be left with “may-issue” right to carry, which some say will result in only a small number of permits being issued- outside of those for family, friends, and campaign donors, according to scuttlebutt. A prominent pro-2nd Amendment group is going so far as to declare the new legislation not even a right to carry bill. Monique Garcia, Rafael Guerrero, and Ray Long reported on the Chicago Tribune website tonight:
Leading the opposition was the National Rifle Association, whose lobbyist delivered a clear message that the bill was so restrictive it could not be properly called a “carry bill.”
“This is a bill to discourage people and prevent people from carrying firearms and exercising their constitutional, fundamental right to keep and bear arms for self-defense in public,” [National Rifle Association's Illinois lobbyist Todd] Vandermyde testified.
Sounds like if this legislation is passed in the Illinois General Assembly and signed by Governor Pat Quinn, it will probably be heading back to the courts. A federal appeals court required Illinois to put a concealed-carry law in place by June 9.
House Bill 183 could come up for a vote in the full Senate tomorrow, Friday, May 17.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Sources:
Leone-Cross, Lauren. “Senate panel OKs restrictive gun bill; full chamber could vote Friday.” The State Journal-Register. 16 May 2013. (http://www.sj-r.com/carousel/x1039442731/Illinois-Senate-committee-to-consider-gun-bill). 16 May 2013.
McKinney, Dave. “Senate panel OKs concealed-carry bill over NRA opposition.” Sun-Times Politics. 16 May 2013. (http://blogs.suntimes.com/politics/2013/05/senate_panel_advances_concealed-carry_bill_over_nra_objections.html). 16 May 2013.
Long, Ray, Guerrero, Rafael, and Garcia, Monique. “Concealed carry rules for Illinois emerge but face uncertain fate.” Chicago Tribune. 16 May. 2013. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-illinois-concealed-carry-0517-20130517,0,1062260,full.story). 16 May 2013.
Anti-Gun Illinois State Senators Could Force Votes This Week On Flawed Right To Carry, Magazine Ban Legislation
In “Madiganistan,” the push for more gun ‘control’ has become a part of everyday life. These days, anti-gun legislators are looking to severely restrict legal concealed-carry that’s coming to Illinois in less than a month, as well as to impose a 10-round limit on CCW firearm ammunition magazines. From the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action website yesterday:
Illinois: Senate Skirts Right to Carry Mandate by Contemplating Vote on Severely Flawed Bills This Week
This week in Springfield, anti-gun state Senators will attempt to derail Right to Carry by forcing votes on severely flawed Right to Carry legislation and a bill to ban magazines commonly used in carry firearms. This faulty concealed carry legislation attempts to exempt Chicago and Cook County from any “shall-issue” mandate and allow individual towns to expand the list of places statewide that are off-limits to anyone concealed carrying. If such exemptions are adopted, 40% of Illinois’ population could be denied the ability to carry a concealed firearm for self-defense based on their residency and the confusing patchwork of laws will put ALL gun owners statewide at risk of felony prosecution. Call your state Senator TODAY: Tell him or her that any compromise and vote in favor of this type of legislation to abandon 40% of the Illinois population is a vote against Right to Carry.
Also imminent is a vote on banning magazines commonly used in concealed carry firearms. The bill number is not yet available, but the legislation seeks to impose an arbitrary ten-round limit. Restrictions on magazine capacity only limit the ability of law-abiding gun owners to defend themselves effectively and would ban numerous commonly used standard capacity magazines.
It is imperative that you contact your state Senator NOW and respectfully tell him or her to support “Shall-Issue” Right to Carry without carve-outs and exceptions for municipalities, and to oppose any magazine bans. With Right to Carry in jeopardy, state legislators need to be reminded that “Shall-Issue” carry is the best move for Illinois. In a state with an excessive crime problem, Illinois citizens need to be able to defend themselves against the criminals and gang members who will not obey ANY laws. Our constitutional right to keep and bear arms and inherent right to self-defense protect all Americans, not just some in a particular state, city or county. State legislators have a responsibility to their constituents to NOT choose politics over a perfect chance to make Illinois a safer place for ALL residents.
Contact information for your state Senator can be found here.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Cook County Public Pension Crisis Worsens
Back on April 9, 2012, I blogged about the public pension crisis in Cook County, Illinois. From that post:
Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois- a trifecta of serious financial concerns.
Hal Dardick talked about all three entities and their growing pension problems early this morning on the Chicago Tribune website:
Cook County’s pension fund will go broke in 26 years without changes that could include an increase in employee contributions and later retirement ages, according to a new analysis.
The report, done under the direction of county Commissioner Bridget Gainer in her role as chairwoman of the board’s pension-oversight panel, shows that it’s not just state and city pension funds that have perilous futures.
Even if the county fund generally is in better shape, Gainer said, that doesn’t mean the county can continue to ignore a funding gap that had grown to $5.2 billion by the end of 2010. That’s seven times the size it was a decade earlier…
(Editor’s note: Italics added for emphasis)
The public pension crisis in the country’s second most populous county has grown worse since I posted that, with the funding gap now having reached $6.79 billion. Paul Merrion revealed on the Crain’s Chicago Business website Wednesday:
Solvency of Cook County’s pension funds deteriorated in the last fiscal year, according to a new report, and county commissioners are pressing anew for reforms.
The county’s main Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund saw its pension debt grow to $6.79 billion, up $969.5 million last year and an increase of $1.6 billion in the gap between assets and liabilities since 2010. The plan is only 53.5 percent funded, down from 57.5 percent in fiscal 2011, and the fund is projected to be insolvent by 2034.
(Editor’s note: Italics added for emphasis)
I anticipate Cook County’s financial woes will make themselves known well before that 2034 date. County residents and businesses should plan accordingly.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Source:
Merrion, Paul. “Cook County pension woes worsen.” Crain’s Chicago Business. 8 May 2013. (http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130508/NEWS02/130509769/cook-county-pension-woes-worsenwww.sj-r.com). 10 May 2013.
Chicago, Cook County Residents To Be Discriminated Against On Right To Carry In Illinois?
Following the local news as I do, I’ve been made aware of a push to discriminate against Chicago and Cook County residents from the rest of Illinois concerning the coming right to carry concealed firearms in the state. It seems to have some teeth to it, judging from what appeared on the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action website yesterday:
Illinois: Legislature Under Pressure to Compromise on Shall-Issue Right to Carry Legislation
Legislators in both the state Senate and House are under extreme pressure to exempt Chicago and Cook County from any “shall-issue” mandate in the concealed carry law that a federal court has ordered to be adopted by June 9. Such an exemption would allow Chicago and Cook County authorities to deny a concealed carry permit to an applicant even if that person meets all of the statutory requirements used to judge eligibility in the rest of the state. Any exemption for Chicago and Cook County could easily deny 40% of Illinois’ population “shall-issue” right to carry, and put gun owners state-wide at risk of felony prosecution if they happen to travel across Cook County or Chicago lines.
Further, in anticipation of the June 9 deadline, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is trying to force an ordinance that would allow him to approve and reject licenses for concealed carry in Cook County, and force applicants to cough up a clearly discriminatory $300 fee just for a license to legally exercise their right to self-defense. Please contact your state Senator and Representative TODAY and urge them to support equal right to carry laws for ALL Illinois residents.
Any semblance of an argument for more restrictive gun control laws in Chicago and Cook County falls apart when faced with facts: at a time when gun ownership throughout the country is at an all-time high, the nation’s murder rate has fallen to a near all-time low. Additionally, Chicago has had a long history with the inverse relationship of increased gun control laws and public safety. Chicago imposed a handgun registration requirement in 1968, with no effect on the city’s rising handgun homicide numbers or the percentages that handgun homicides comprised of total homicides. In April 1982, a law prohibiting possession of handguns not previously registered with the police took effect in Chicago. Annual handgun homicide numbers and percentages of total homicides fluctuated, and then rose sharply.
The bottom line is that criminals do not obey the law – but the law-abiding people in Illinois, regardless of where they might live, or what their economic standing may be, have a natural, fundamental, and constitutionally protected right to defend themselves. Any Right to Carry law passed by the legislature in compliance with the federal court ruling MUST recognize this. Given the high violent crime rates in Chicago and Cook County, law-abiding residents of these municipalities have a great need to carry a firearm for self-defense since they are likely to be victims of violent crime, and their local government officials refuse to deal effectively with violent criminals there. It is time for Chicago politicians to face the facts – their ideological crusade against guns has only ensured that criminals are armed and the law-abiding are defenseless victims.
Contact your state Senator and Representative immediately. Urge them to oppose any legislation or amendment that would discriminate among the residents of Illinois, recognizing the rights of some, but not others. Our constitutional right to keep and bear arms and inherent right to self-defense protect all Americans, not just some in a particular state, city or county.
Contact information for your state legislators can be found here.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Cook County Sheriff Proposing $300 ‘May Issue’ Concealed-Carry Permits If State Misses Deadline
As Illinois state legislators scramble to enact a concealed-carry law after a federal appeals court required one to be in place by June 9, the top law enforcement officer in Cook County is proposing his own CCW legislation. Frank Main reported on the Chicago Sun-Times website last night:
Sheriff Tom Dart said Sunday that he is proposing a concealed-carry gun ordinance to keep Cook County from becoming the “Wild West.”
Dart said he’s worried about a stalemate in the General Assembly on a law to license people to carry concealed guns. If legislators don’t meet a June 9 court deadline to pass such a law, anyone with a state firearm owner’s identification card could legally walk anywhere in public with a concealed weapon, Dart said…
Dart’s ordinance would give him the power to approve and reject licenses to carry concealed guns in Cook County. Applicants would have to pay a $300 fee for a license.
As I mentioned in an April 19 post on lawful concealed-carry in Illinois:
However, I predict there’s a good chance concealed-carry legislation will be enacted in the state by that June deadline.
If not, something will be patched together quick… after perceived political opportunities are exploited and exhausted, of course.
Stay tuned…
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Source:
Main, Frank. “Sheriff Tom Dart proposes Cook County concealed-carry ordinance.” Chicago Sun-Times. 5 May. 2013. (http://www.suntimes.com/news/19919549-418/sheriff-tom-dart-proposes-cook-county-concealed-carry-ordinance.html). 6 May. 2013.
CBS Chicago Asks: Is Chicago, Cook County Safe From Terrorists?
From a CBS Chicago news broadcast last night:
ROB JOHHNSON: Chicago’s Mayor and Police Superintendent have said they would use lessons learned from the Boston Marathon bombings to make Chicago safer.
KATE SULLIVAN: But tonight, we’ve learned that they’ve already made some changes. Chief Correspondent Jay Levine sat down with Superintendent McCarthy and began by asking the simple question, “Are we safe?” So what do you say, Jay?
JAY LEVINE: One word Kate- absolutely.
Tuesday night, CBS Chicago’s Levine focused on Cook County as the second most populous county in the U.S. refines its anti-terrorism plans and procedures in the wake of the Boston terror attack (video segment here).
Personally, as long as our borders are as porous as they are, I won’t feel safe from terrorists. It won’t stop me from doing what I want, when I want, but you won’t see me at some mass gathering or in some other situation that screams “juicy jihadist target” anytime soon.
Besides, I dislike crowds.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Lake County Paper Ridicules Cook County Gun ‘Control’
Going forward, I’ve got to remember to read the Lake County News-Sun’s “Talk of the County” section more often. From the website of the Waukegan, Illinois-based paper last Friday:
Cook County
Cook County has added another tax to penalize legal gun buyers while the criminals continue to break any and all gun control laws.
Yep. Our neighbors to the north pretty much nailed it on the head.
And how about this gem:
Haw, haw
This has to be the grandest April fool joke that the world has ever heard of, or someone is going nuts beyond remedy. President Obama has declared April as National Financial Capability month. Unbelievable! Haw, haw. How incredulous coming from someone who cannot even prepare a budget and who spends borrowed money as if he were leaving the planet!
Funny but sad at the same time.
Especially since, if I recall correctly, President Bush the Second had the same problem when it came to spending.
Haven’t you heard? The nation does have a spending problem.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Source:
“Talk of the County.” Lake County News-Sun. 5 Apr. 2013. (http://newssun.suntimes.com/news/19270481-418/talk-of-the-county.html). 10 Apr. 2013.
Cook County Gun Tax Update
This past Monday, a new gun tax went into effect in Cook County, Illinois.
Back on November 9, 2012, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted 16 to 1 in approving Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s $2.95 billion budget for 2013- and a new $25 per gun “violence tax” on firearm purchases by law-abiding citizens to pay for the carnage caused by violent criminals.
On March 14, I blogged about a group of Chicago-area gun dealers and owners filing a lawsuit that day in Cook County Circuit Court, aiming to halt this tax on residents exercising a Constitutional right.
Were they successful?
Hal Dardick reported on the Chicago Tribune website Tuesday:
Late Friday, Circuit Judge David Atkins denied a motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent the tax from going into effect, writing that those who sued “have not demonstrated that this right is threatened by the tax.”
So the new $25 tax stands. For now.
Stay tuned…
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Source:
Dardick, Hal. “Cook County gun tax takes effect.” Chicago Tribune. 2 Apr. 2013. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-cook-county-gun-tax-0402-20130402,0,1386493.story). 2 Apr. 2013.
Cook County, Illinois, Sued For New Gun Tax
“You’re welcome to sue. We’ve looked at this and we believe we can survive any challenge.”
-Cook County, Illinois, Board President Toni Preckwinkle, on proposed new taxes on firearm and ammunition purchases within the county, October 18, 2012
On November 9, 2012, the Cook County, Illinois, Board of Commissioners voted 16 to 1 in approving Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s $2.95 billion budget for 2013- and a new $25 per gun “violence tax” on firearm purchases by law-abiding citizens to pay for the carnage caused by violent criminals.
On November 12, I blogged that there was talk of two lawsuits being drawn up against the county as a result of this tax on residents exercising a Constitutional right.
And Thursday night, I came across the following from Cook County Reporter Lisa Donovan on the Chicago Sun-Times website:
A group of Chicago area gun dealers and owners filed a lawsuit Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court, aiming to halt a new $25 tax on every gun purchase in Cook County…
“Proponents of the tax have admitted that its purpose is to curb the number of firearms in circulation. The Tax thus is intended to deter individuals from exercising their fundamental right to keep and bear arms guaranteed by the Second and the Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and… the Illinois Constitution,” the lawsuit states.
The suit claims the tax infringes “on the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear, and law-abiding Retailers to sell, arms as guaranteed” by state and local constitutions.
The gun tax is scheduled to go into effect on April 1.
It’s been claimed that the new tax is also a gun registration scheme being carried out by the second most populous county in the United States. On November 23, 2012, I wrote:
From the website of Maxon Shooters Supplies & Indoor Range (one of the gun shops affected) in nearby Des Plaines:
Did you know the “Violence Tax” would give the city of Chicago & Cook County COMPLETE ACCESS to all records of firearm sales, ammunition and etc. This would ALLOW law enforcement agencies to ENTER YOUR HOME to inventory and audit all your firearms & ammunition WITHOUT A WARRANT!
With the recent passage of Cook County Ordinance Number 13-O-13, which requires “persons who own or possess firearms within Cook County to promptly report to the Cook County Sheriff the loss, theft, destruction or transfer of firearms,” gun registration- whether intended or not- is now in effect in the county. From section 58-190, “Report of transferred firearms:”
A person reporting the sale, transfer, inheritance, or other disposition of a firearm shall provide the following information:
(1) Owner name;
(2) Owner address;
(3) Owner Firearm Owner’s Identification Card number;
(4) Date of acquisition;
(5) Place of acquisition;
(6) Means of acquisition;
(7) Firearm type;
(8) Firearm serial number;
(9) Date of sale, transfer, inheritance or other disposition; and
(10) The name, address, and Firearm Owner’s Identification Card number of the transferee.
No doubt about it, gun registration now exists in Cook County, Illinois. And history shows that confiscation often follows.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Source:
Donovan, Lisa. “Gun owners, dealers sue over Cook County’s $25 tax on firearms.” Chicago Sun-Times. 14 Mar. 2013. (http://www.suntimes.com/news/18859382-418/gun-owners-dealers-sue-over-cook-countys-25-tax-on-firearms.html). 16 Mar. 2013.
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