Olympia Fields Police Pension Fund ranks 81st for underfunding in Illinois, covering 48.3% of liabilities in 2024

The Olympia Fields Police Pension Fund placed 81st among the most underfunded police and fire pension systems in Illinois in 2024, data from the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI) shows.

This fund, part of Illinois’ Village or Township pension network, noted total pension liabilities of $29,129,269 and an actuarial funding value of $14,064,964.

With a funding ratio of 48.3%, the fund held just under half of the necessary actuarial assets to pay out its promised retirement benefits.

As a result, the system had an unfunded liability of about $15,064,305 between available assets and obligations.

The Illinois Department of Insurance collects and reports on local police and fire pension systems, all of which are backed financially by local municipalities’ residents.

As of 2024, there were 363 police and 300 fire pension funds in Illinois. Some towns manage both systems, while some fund only one.

There are municipalities without pension debt. For 2024, 64 reported no outstanding police or fire pension liabilities and were not included in the rankings.

Police and fire pension obligations, or “pension benefits,” are a form of deferred compensation. While municipal authorities promise retirement benefits to public safety workers, they may not always ensure sufficient contributions from workers or taxpayers. Such shortfalls contribute to ongoing pension debt, effectively transferring these obligations to future taxpayers. To maintain these systems, property taxes largely fund annual contributions, and figures are compiled by the IDOI.

Statewide, Illinois police and fire pension funds had an average funding ratio of 65.1% in 2024, reflecting a persistent funding shortfall among local public safety pensions.

Of all Illinois public safety funds, the Glencoe Firefighters Pension Fund posted the lowest funding ratio at 0.9%.

Savoy Firefighters Pension Fund was the most well-funded in the state, with a 797.7% funding ratio and an actuarial funding value of $149,803 over its liabilities.

Illinois’ total statewide pension debt grew by $1.5 billion in 2024, bringing it to $143.7 billion, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability said. This increase was the third in a row and leaves the debt just below the 20-year high of $144.2 billion set in 2020.

According to a Public Pension Division report from the State Department of Insurance, pension funds downstate and in suburban Illinois combined for $12.1 billion in unfunded actuarial liabilities in 2024, with the group’s average funding ratio standing at 49.18%. This indicates these funds had less than half of the needed assets for promised retirement benefits.

During 2024, Illinois had the nation’s largest portion of a state’s GDP tied to unfunded pension liabilities, nearing 20%, according to research by the Equable Institute.

The Illinois Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, contends that this situation is producing a rising taxpayer burden. The organization noted taxpayer contributions for state pensions rose from $614 million in 1996 to $11.2 billion in fiscal year 2025.

Details in this article come from the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI). The complete source data is available here.