Chicago’s public pension funds, already reeling from years of inadequate contributions, took another financial hit when Mayor Richard Daley’s administration and the city’s unions agreed to require workers to take unpaid furlough days, according to a report released today by the city Office of the Inspector General.
Under the agreement, city workers were not required to make pension contributions for the furlough days even though they continued to accrue benefits. The city, meanwhile, gave itself a pass on another $13 million in payments for its share of pension contributions for the furlough days.
That means city pension funds were shortchanged nearly $25 million over the three-year period, at a time when funding had fallen to levels that threaten the retirement security of thousands of policemen, firefighters, teachers and municipal employees.
We will repeat ourselves once again:
- we contribute 9% to our own pensions - that contribution is about to climb to 12%
- the city has refused to increase their pension contribution for almost 30 years now
- we cannot collect Social Security
- after 20 years service, we get 50% of our salary - under $40K a year.