Officials: Plan to Shift Pension Cost to Local Schools Would Cost VVSD Millions

It’s no secret that Illinois is struggling financially, and local school districts have long lamented inadequate state funding and missed payments.

But new proposal from Gov. Pat Quinn could make the situation even worse for school districts, including , according to board of education president Steve Quigley.

At Monday night’s board meeting, Quigley urged teachers to contact their legislators and ask them to fight a proposal by Quinn that would shift the responsibility for paying teacher retirement benefits back on local school districts.

Under the proposal, the state would place the burden for paying the employers’ portion of Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) pension benefits on schools.

The plan would save the state a reported $1.3 billion per year — but mean millions of dollars in costs for already cash-strapped districts.

“It’s billions of dollars that the state is dumping on the backs of local taxpayers,” Quigley said, adding it could cost Valley View $25 million.

“Chew on that,” he told the audience at Monday night’s meeting. “Even if they phase it in, $25 million over three years, it’s $8 million that we have to find — it ain’t out there, folks.”

The plan was also a hot-button issue at last week’s in Romeoville, where GOP contenders said it would mean property tax increases as school districts scramble to come up with the money.

“Now [the state] is taking their problem and making it your problem and our problem,” Quigley said.

The state is already hundreds of millions of dollars behind on payments to school districts throughout Illinois.

According to Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services Gary Grizaffi, Illinois has yet to make its December quarterly payment to Valley View, and is $4.3 million in arrears to the district.