Darien Cop Pension Costs Rise Again

DARIEN, IL – Darien's contribution to its police pension account increased yet again last budget year.

The contribution jumped by about $200,0000, to $2.6 million. The contribution was $1.4 million in 2017. In 2002, Darien contributed $200,000 to police pensions, according to state Department of Insurance reports.

The last budget year, which ended April 30, was a bad year for pension investments, the city's actuary said Monday. The village's fund grew by 2 percent, far less than the annual 7 percent assumption.

The pension account's long-term unfunded liability amounted to $25.6 million last budget year, compared with $24.2 million the year before that.

Much of that has to do with poor investment returns, the city's actuary, Jason Franken of Foster & Foster, told the City Council.

But it also has to do with salary increases, which were "a little higher than what we assumed," he said.

Another factor also played a role in the increase in unfunded liability.

"The mortality experience was, I'll say, unfavorable," Franken said. "There were no deaths. That's good from a life perspective, but from a pension plan perspective, people live longer than we expect and it does increase our pension contribution requirements a little."

As of last budget year, Darien had 34 police officers contributing to the police pension fund, which had 32 beneficiaries, according to Franken's annual report.