La Grange Behind Most Towns On Pension Funding

LA GRANGE, IL – La Grange is below the state average in funding its police and fire pensions, the village's pension adviser said Monday.

The village's police pension account is 55 percent funded, lower than the state average of 64 percent. Being fully funded means having the money to pay all the benefits promised to current and future retirees.

The fire pension account is 52 percent funded, compared with a 67 percent average.

"You have a little bit to go to catch up to the state average," Kevin Cavanaugh of Lauterbach & Amen told the Village Board on Monday.

To stay on track to be fully funded by 2040, Lauterbach recommended La Grange contribute $4.1 million to its police and fire pension accounts next year. That's up from $3.7 million this year.

The village typically follows the pension adviser's advice.

According to Lauterbach, two-thirds of police pension fund members are inactive, meaning they are collecting benefits or are in line to do so. For the fire pension fund, 61 percent are inactive.

"We're finding that really for both fire and police, we're seeing higher rates of retirements at younger ages," Cavanaugh said. "This is a trend we're pretty much seeing across the state. It's not unique to your community."