By: Diane Benjamin
On the 7/25/2022 Bloomington Bills and Payroll report was an Accelerated Payment to IMRF for $5,568.15. Since the Sick Leave Buy Back policy was FINALLY phased out, I FOIA’d information on this payment.
This is the explanation I received from the City of Bloomington:
Their note doesn’t explain what I received from IMRF:
The employee is listed on the compensation report as Truck Driver – Parks. https://www.cityblm.org/home/showpublisheddocument/27739/637843221421970000
Nothing I received says why this employee got a 12.8% salary increase in his final year of employment.
If overtime caused the large salary increase the City could have filed for an exemption. Since they paid IMRF, no exemption was filed.
Hopefully large salary increases in the final year of employment isn’t the new way to hand out higher pensions.
A tried and true tactic of public schools & districts (pension spiking)
I don’t recall what year it was, maybe around 2000 something that the state legislature put a cap on salary increases for administrative staff such as for Superintendents. This was meant to stop the ballooning of their salary before retiring raising their pension. So how they worked around that was instead of a salary increase they would ask for an increase in vacation time, medical benefits, etc. all figured into their total compensation used for pension calculations.
Public pensions are a huge liability for citizens in Illinois. This problem is at all levels and our representatives refuse to do any serious remedies. Voters need to remember at election time, or pay the consequences. This is a growing problem, and will crash our economy unless delt with.
Ask Dan Brady what he has done to address the pension situation and he runs like a scared rabbit.
He was even in gop leadership! Speaks volumes about the IlGOP
Accelerated payments will always be a Possibility with all employees. F an Employee doesn’t use any vacation time that year, a employer is required by state law to have it paid out because it is earned time. If the employee has five or six weeks vacation, X his highest rate which is usually at the end of his career It triggers the 6% rule by IMRF. Which then triggers an accelerated payment, but don’t worry admin is trying to get rid of everyone who has been there more than 15 years!