2021/03/08 - Mayor's Column: State Pension Costs

“An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from Mayor Herb Roach
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Recently, Moody’s Investors Service ranked Illinois’ pension crisis ($317 billion pension liability) as the worst state in the nation. The current pension liability is a 19% increase from last years.  When people see this, they wonder if all governmental bodies overspend and create more debt.

The answer is NO. In O’Fallon, we have decreased debt by over 15% the last 3.5 years and not a single one of your O’Fallon City elected officials are on a pension plan through the City of O’Fallon.

Whereas about 66% of all State Legislators are on the State’s pension plan.  Their average monthly base salary is $5,788 and they can retire after age 55 with 8-years of service or age 62 and only 4 years of service. The average monthly pension benefit for these retired state elected officials is $5,512 for life.

Below is a brief chart of the pay for your local elected officials and how they compare to those from other cities with populations over 20,000 in Madison and St. Clair County.

CITY                          POPULATION                      Mayor’s Salary             Council Salary

Belleville                     44,000                                   87,000                        11,000

O’Fallon                       32,000                                    24,000                         4,800

E. St. Louis                   28,000                                    50,000                        21,000

Granite City                 28,000                                    73,000                          6,300

Alton                             26,000                                    89,000                          9,000

Edwardsville                26,000                                    24,000                          6,000

Collinsville                    24,000                                      3,600                          3,000

Many of the cities above have a City Mayor and City Administrator, as we have, and some do not. Some of the Cities also offer pensions, expense accounts, cars and other types of fringe benefits to their current and past mayors and / or past council members. We do not.

The above population numbers may change when the new census is announced later this year.

This is not being shared to justify increases for myself or any of our elected officials.  It is being shared to show that those that run for elected positions in O’Fallon do not do it for the money.  They do it because they care about the City, its citizens and its future.

It is easy for people to criticize elected officials and give them and their family grief over decisions they make just because they personally don’t like it. But most people do not realize all the items that must be taken into consideration on votes.

It takes time and commitment to do the job correctly and that is why many do not get involved.

Many of our elected officials are also involved in other civic or religious organizations here in town as well.  They are what I call “GIVERS” vs being “takers”.

In closing, I would just like to say THANK YOU to everyone that has served on our City Council.  Yes, they will disagree on items and have lively debates on topics. But in the end, they come together to get the work done that is needed for our City.  I wish we could say the same for our  State and Federal Government.

As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open!