Despite dire warnings about the need to boost public safety pension fund payments, only three alders indicated any appetite for that move at a special Evanston City Council meeting about the 2023 city budget Monday night.
Leslie McMillan, a member of the city’s Finance and Budget Committee, said during public comment that if the city doesn’t cut expenses and pay more toward its pension fund debt, rating agencies will cut the city’s credit rating — further increasing borrowing costs in a time of already high interest rates.
The city’s pension actuary says the unfunded public safety pension debt has grown by $47 million to $235 million over the last seven years and advocates for the police and firefighters say taxpayers will have to pay much more later if they don’t increase payments now.
But while Ald. Clare Kelly (1st) continued to argue for a $4.5 million annual increase in pension fund payments, only two other alders mentioned the issue in their comments during the budget session.
Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th) suggested the city consider assigning building permit revenue from Northwestern University’s planned rebuild of Ryan Field to the pension program.
But he admitted the amount of permit revenue from the project is unknown at this point and “not yet definite enough to budget for.”
Ald. Eleanor Revelle (7th) suggested the city could hold off for a year on another measure designed to please the rating agencies — starting to raise the city’s general fund reserves from 16.67% to 20% of annual general fund spending — and put that money toward pensions instead.
For her part, Kelly suggested taking money from the fund balances in other city funds to make the extra pension payments.
None of the council members appeared willing to consider program cuts or tax increases as a way to reduce the growing unfunded pension liability.
The Council is scheduled to adopt the city’s 2023 budget and tax levies in two weeks, on Nov. 21.
“Leslie McMillan, a member of the city’s Finance and Budget Committee, said during public comment that if the city doesn’t cut expenses and pay more toward its pension fund debt, rating agencies will cut the city’s credit rating — further increasing borrowing costs in a time of already high interest rates.”
These are smart people who deal with money every second of their day. Yet, we don’t listen to them.