Small Request For Money Sparks La Grange Debate

LA GRANGE, IL — La Grange had planned to contribute $1,891,000 to the police pension fund, an amount based on an expert's analysis. But some officials wanted to add $2,500 more, reflecting the original budget.

That may seem like a relatively small amount, but a principle apparently was involved.

At Monday's Village Board meeting, Andrew James, a member of the pension board, recommended the city put in $2,500 more because of concerns with the pension fund.

"We have made a somewhat extraordinary request asking for the tiniest little bit more than the actuarial assumption called for," James told the board.

He said one of the concerns is the fund's beneficiaries outnumber the village's active police officers. According to the actuary's report, the fund has 25 active members and 38 beneficiaries.

Most of the trustees spoke up in favor of the pension board's request.

"I appreciate the comments by staff about the risk of precedent, but to me, this is a very minor, pretty de minimis request," Trustee Lou Gale said. "I wouldn't see why we wouldn't do it. It also demonstrates at a time of a labor crunch a commitment to public safety and our police. I think it's something we should do."

Trustee Michael Kotynek said it was important for the village to stick to its actuary's assumptions.

"Putting more money into (the fund) is not a bad thing," he said. "However, it is one pot of money. The more we put into that, we take from essential services for the village."

The actuary, Robert Rietz, said he saw no downside to putting more money into the fund. The invested money, he said, would bring in a return and help reduce the pension fund's shortfall sooner.

However, the village's finance director, Lou Cipparrone, said the issue involved a policy on pension contributions going forward, rather than the size of the requested amount. He questioned what the village would do if it received a request for a significant increase in the contribution.

Trustee Beth Augustine said she understood Cipparrone's point, but she said she was fine with considering requests for bigger contributions going forward. She said the last year was "amazing" for the fund's investments, a reflection of the bull market on Wall Street.

"I don't think we're going to get many years like this," she said.

The board voted 4-1 for adding the $2,500. Kotynek dissented.

In all, next year's police pension contribution of $1,893,500 is about $80,000 over the previous year's.