By: Diane Benjamin
Tari Renner and David Hales love to tout the greatness of the Illinois Municipal League. From the IML website:
The Illinois Municipal League is the formal voice for Illinois municipalities. The League was founded in 1913 and has worked continuously for the benefit of municipalities, promoting competence and integrity in administration of municipal government.
Maybe the IML can explain this:
These are MONTHLY State pensions, even though IML employees are not STATE employees.
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Every taxpayers needs to read this article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2015/03/31/worse-than-city-hall-fighting-an-instrumentality-of-the-state/#375fe5c43641
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Is this where former City Manager Tom Hamilton learned how it’s done:
Yes, that’s a monthly pension. Here’s Hamilton’s MONTHLY pension history: 
Back to IML:
From the article:
IML lives in some very rarified air. According to new Executive Director Brad Cole, the IML auditors claim “instrumentality of the state” status. Consider the following: since 1979, the IML has not filed an income tax return. For decades, their employees have been clouted into the state’s public pension plan. IML is not exactly “government.” But, as an “instrumentality of the state,” it’s also never on the ballot of any election and is therefore exempt from the basic standards of transparency and accountability taxpayers expect.
It gets worse:
Still, the IML – acting primarily as a powerful lobbyist – has consistently advocated for higher taxes and spending.
(The article is from March 2015)
Currently, the IML is trying to crush legislation designed to stop the egregious practice of charging local businesses up to $1 million in water and sewer installation and tap fees (SB1815). Their lobbyists are fighting much needed legislation reforming the Open Meetings Act (HB248). Last month, when Gov. Bruce Rauner proposed a 50 percent reduction in the amount the state sends back to local municipalities from the state income tax – a small amount equal on average to just 3% of local budgets – the IML made sure the proposal was dead on arrival.
Still, muscling into the public pension plan wasn’t enough. IML has a history of spiking end-of-career salaries. From 2005 – 2014, the annual compensation of Executive Director Larry Frang was spiked by 200 percent – from $130,812 to $390,423. Although taxpayers had absolutely no oversight of Frang’s salary and spikes, they are on the hook to fund and guarantee his lifetime pension.
Here’s our conclusion: the Illinois Municipal League seems to be a lot of things. More than anything else, however, it is above the law.
The Illinois Municipal League hasn’t filed tax returns for decades. They lobby Springfield against YOU. Their employees take State pensions are your expense.
But, this the organization your leaders follow.
If you aren’t mad enough yet, see more MONTHLY pensions here: http://www.openthebooks.com/search/?PensionCode=1822&F_fiscalyear=2015&F_employeenm=&pg=1
Want to know why Sick Leave Buy Back wasn’t fixed before it cost you MILLIONS of dollars? Want to know why it still isn’t fixed and will cost you more money?
Illinois Municipal League!
Spiking pensions at your expense is how they operate.
This is good stuff! Thanks
Doesn’t the City use taxpayer dollars for IML membership dues as well as for attendance by the Mayor and Hales to the IML conventions? Let’s take a course on how to spend tax dollars using taxpayer money!
Tammany Hall has nothing on Illinois.
😁
Sadly, nobody under 40, pushed though an education system of political indoctrination and condom technology, has the slightest idea what “Tammany Hall” was. Heck, most of them can’t write (or even read) cursive, multiply one digit numbers in their head, make change without electronic assistance, or put the Revolutionary War in the correct century.
Hopefully Google told them.