'Our Checkbook Is Declining': Burr Ridge Official

BURR RIDGE, IL – A couple of Burr Ridge trustees expressed concerns last week about the decrease in the money on hand in the village's police pension account.

According to village numbers, the account is expected to drop by more than $2.5 million from 2021 to the next budget year, which starts May 1. That would leave the fund at $21 million.

Speaking about the pension fund, Trustee Russell Smith noted the gap between next year's projected $1.3 million in income and the $1.5 million in spending.

That is happening even though the village is adding $84,000 more in village money to the account more than what state law requires, officials said.

"That tells me that we're not doing that great of a job," Smith said at a Village Board meeting.

Pointing to what's in the account, Smith said, "Our checkbook is declining."

Annmarie Mampe, the village's senior finance consultant, said most of the decrease is because of a drop in investment earnings.

"The hope is that your investment earnings are always going to outpace your spending. That isn't going to happen every year," Mampe said. "It's also common for a pension fund, as it matures, to have more going out on an annual basis than you have going in because you have more pensioners as the fund matures. So this is a very healthy pension fund."

Trustee Guy Franzese asked his colleagues to consider an even greater contribution from the village to the pension account, "so we can stay ahead of the game."

No one responded to his proposal.

The comments came during a budget discussion. The board is expected to approve a new budget next month.

Many other towns are also seeing drops in their pension accounts because of investment earnings. Burr Ridge's pension fund is funded at a higher rate than most towns.