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CHICAGO—Retired Illinois government-employees pull in huge pension payments while Illinois taxpayers bail out the floundering government pension plans with the 67% increase in their state personal income tax, according Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of Illinois (TUA). Tobin added that the number of retired government employees in Illinois getting annual pensions over $100,000 jumped 27% from last year.
The number of government retirees in the Illinois state pension funds getting over $100,000 a year in pension payments rose from 5,294 to 6,706.
Tobin projected that by year 2020, 25,000 government retirees will be getting annual pensions over $100,000.
“The Teachers Retirement System (TRS) pension fund had 3,499 retirees pulling in over $100,000 a year in pension payments as of April 1, 2012,” said Tobin. “The State University Retirement System (SURS) pension fund had 2,108 retirees getting more than $100,000 a year.”
Click here to view the top 100 Illinois State pensions as of April 1, 2012.
“In the State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS), 84 of the top 100 are retired State Troopers, including 28 troopers who retired at age 50 and are getting over $100,000 a year.”
“The largest pension of all retired Illinois government-employees again is Tapas Das Gupta, formerly of the University of Illinois at Chicago. Gupta’s annual pension (as of April 1, 2012) is an astronomical $426,885 — $35,573 a month. So far, Gupta’s pension payout to date is a whopping $3,001,481.”
“With lavish, gold-plated pensions like these, it’s no wonder that the Illinois government pension programs are going broke, and that Springfield politicians are trying to bail them out with tax increases on Illinois citizens whose annual incomes often are lower than what these guys get a month.”
“Immediate and real pension reform is long-overdue. Ending pensions for all new government hires will eventually eliminate unfunded government pensions,” said Tobin. “New government hires should plan for their own retirements by being placed in Social Security and 401(k) plans.”
“Furthermore, if each government employee were required to contribute an additional 10% toward his or her pension, taxpayers would save $150 billion over the next 35 years.”
“Finally, requiring Illinois government employees and retirees to pay for one half of their healthcare premiums would save even more – an estimated $230 billion over current projections.”
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CHICAGO–Retired state and county Illinois judges are enjoying some of the most lavish, gold-plated pensions of all Illinois government-pensioners, according to Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “Even while Springfield political leaders finally are discussing pension reform, judges’ million-dollar pensions are draining their state government-employee pension fund,” said Tobin.
Click here to view the top 100 pensions in the Judges Retirement System (JRS).
Tobias Barry, a retired Appellate Court Judge, tops TUA’s “Top 100” list of judges’ pensions with an annual pension of $186,764, which he supplements with another pension for his days in the Illinois General Assembly. Barry’s total-to-date pension payout is a hefty $1,749,400.
“Even the bottom pension of our Top 100 list is huge,” said Tobin. “Number 100 on the list, Michael Stuttley, receives an annual pension of $156,570.”
Number 2 on the Top 100 list is retired Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Moses Harrison II, who pulls in an annual pension of $182,009. So far, Harrison’s total-to-date pension payout is $1,507,589.
“Many of the retired judges literally are pension-millionaires,” said Tobin. “William Lewis has collected a staggering total-to-date pension payout of $2,014,760. Thomas Obrien has collected a huge total-to-date pension payout of $2,021,134.”
“These former ‘public servants’ make far more than most workers in the private sector and get million-dollar pensions as well.”
“Ending pensions for all new government hires will eventually eliminate unfunded government pensions,” said Tobin. “New government hires should plan for their own retirements by being placed in Social Security and 401(k) plans.”
“Furthermore, if each government employee were required to contribute an additional 10% toward his or her pension, taxpayers would save $150 billion over the next 35 years.”
This release is the fifth in a series. To see the previous four, see below:
- Pension Millionaires Draining Lifeblood from TRS Pension Fund
- State Troopers & Corrections Officers Quick to Capture Lavish Pensions
- For REALLY Big Bucks, Try the State University System
- Springfield Pols to Vote on Cigarette Tax Hike Impacting Poor As They Look Forward to Lavish, Gold-Plated Pensions
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CHICAGO—Chicago’s hosting of the May NATO meetings was an expensive ego-trip for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his fellow politicians, charged Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
“Emanuel and his press flacks claimed that holding the NATO meetings put Chicago in a favorable light in the eyes of the world, and that as a result, Chicago’s reputation as a world-class city will move up a few notches in the list of great world cities,” said Tobin. “He’s got to be kidding. Does he honestly think the world views Chicago as being in the same league as New York, London or Paris?”
“As far as the world is concerned, Chicago is the capitol of flyover country.”
“On Friday and Monday, downtown businesses were ghost towns — the last thing they needed in this recession. LaSalle Street was empty according to reports, major employers asked their employees to stay home, and receipts in shops and restaurants were down sharply.”
“One reason for holding the meetings purportedly was to emerge from under the shadow of the 1968 riots during the Democratic Convention. Businesses paid a high price to cleanse the reputations of Democrat politicians.”
“Emanuel would have done a lot better cutting rather than increasing expenses, and passing the savings on to the overtaxed residents of Chicago.”
