Report: Illinois pension bill may cut too deep for teachers

Illinois educators’ retirement burdens could end up on the laps of local taxing bodies.

GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE
Posted Dec 25, 2010 @ 09:30 PM
Last update Dec 25, 2010 @ 10:50 PM

SPRINGFIELD — In March, the General Assembly and Gov. Pat Quinn saved Illinois $220 billion in pension costs over the next 25 years by passing sweeping pension-benefit reductions for future public employees whose retirements are state-funded.

But by doing so, they may have shifted a big chunk of retirement costs to school districts, local governments and the taxpayers who support them.

The cut to benefits is so severe that future teachers probably will have to be put in the federal Social Security system, according to a consultant’s report for the Teachers’ Retirement System.

“It seems likely that, at some point in the future, the TRS second-tier plan will no longer meet the requirements for FICA (Social Security) tax exemption,â€