New Contract was approved by City Council (9-1) and signed June 2nd.

"NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Mayor and City Council of the City of St. Charles, Illinois that the City of St. Charles urges the General Assembly to stop approving new and increased pension benefits for the police and fire pension funds."

The City plans to pass a resolution using model language supplied by the Illinois Municipal League (IML) at the March 3rd Council Meeting.

A copy of the language is attached.

Really.  Others are interested in your pension even if you aren't.

From the Illinois Municipal League's Pension website at http://www.iml.org/dbs/pension/

• Current benefit levels are guaranteed by the Illinois Constitution and cannot be reduced.  Pension benefits awarded by the General Assembly must therefore be funded using available local revenues.

• Municipal officials are finding it difficult to pay for the growing pension debt within existing budgets.  State statute prevents many municipalities from levying for adequate revenues to contribute toward their pension liabilities.

• Municipal governments have seen the fees they pay the state for pension regulatory services increase dramatically while the overall regulatory staffing and service levels have declined.  Inadequate regulation of billions of pension dollars is a ticking time bomb.

• The State of Illinois publishes an annual study of the fiscal conditions of all state and local pension funds except two – the downstate and suburban police and firefighter pension funds.  This neglect of by the state of two local multi-billion dollar pension systems prompted the IML to undertake its own study to inform municipal officials, legislators and the public about the financial condition of these systems.