Mokena FPD Firefighters Pension Fund faces $1.3M shortfall, ranks 575th among Illinois public safety funds in 2024

Ann Gillespie, Director of the Illinois Department of Insurance
Ann Gillespie, Director of the Illinois Department of Insurance
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In 2024, the Mokena FPD Firefighters Pension Fund was listed as the 575th most underfunded police and fire pension fund in Illinois, based on data from the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI).

The fund is structured under the City pension system framework in Illinois and disclosed $29,431,704 in total pension obligations, with an actuarial funding value of $28,139,570.

This translates to a funding ratio of 95.6%, reflecting a 4.4% shortfall in actuarial assets versus the full retirement obligations.

The difference between assets and liabilities resulted in an unfunded liability of about $1,292,134 for the system.

The Illinois Department of Insurance gathers and releases figures on municipal police and fire pension funds, which are funded by their community’s residents.

As of 2024, Illinois maintained 300 fire and 363 police funds; some municipalities support both types, while others provide only one.

Certain municipalities remain free of unfunded pension debts. In 2024, 64 municipalities reported no outstanding police or fire pension liability and therefore were not included in the ranking.

Referred to as “pension benefits,” public safety pension obligations function as deferred compensation. Commitments to provide these retirement payments are sometimes made without ensuring that contributions from employees or taxpayers match the liability. Such funding shortfalls result in increased pension debt, ultimately leaving the financial responsibility to future generations. Annual contributions, largely sourced through property taxes and tracked by the IDOI, help keep these systems in operation.

Statewide, Illinois police and fire pension funds had an average funding ratio of 65.1% during 2024, underscoring significant funding gaps across local public safety retirement programs.

The lowest funded pension fund in Illinois for 2024 was the Glencoe Firefighters Pension Fund, with a funding ratio of only 0.9%.

By contrast, the Savoy Firefighters Pension Fund held the highest funding ratio at 797.7%, with $149,803 in actuarial funding value surpassing its liabilities.

Throughout 2024, total state pension debt in Illinois rose by $1.5 billion, according to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, raising the total to $143.7 billion—just below the 20-year high of $144.2 billion from 2020 and marking a third year of increases.

The State Department of Insurance Public Pension Division reported that Illinois’ suburban and downstate pension systems together carried $12.1 billion in unfunded actuarial liabilities in 2024 and had a combined funding ratio of 49.18%, indicating more than half the needed assets were lacking.

A 2024 analysis showed Illinois had the nation’s largest share of state GDP committed to unfunded pension obligations, approaching 20%, according to research by Equable Institute.

The Illinois Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research organization, reports this adds to a growing burden on taxpayers, noting contributions rose from $614 million in fiscal year 1996 to $11.2 billion by fiscal year 2025.

Top 100 Most Underfunded Illinois Police and Fire Pension Funds (FY 2024)

Rank Pension Fund City Fund Type Funding % Unfunded Liability Total Liabilities
1 Glencoe Firefighters Pension Fund Glencoe Village or Township 0.9% $178,203 $179,832
2 South Chicago Heights Firefighters Pension Fund South Chicago Heights Village or Township 2.8% $491,701 $505,700
3 Bethany Firefighters Pension Fund Bethany Village or Township 3.9% $250,130 $260,252
4 Posen Firefighters Pension Fund Posen Village or Township 6.8% $1,013,154 $1,086,589
5 Nunda Rural FPD Firefighters Pension Fund Crystal Lake Fire Protection District 8% $155,069 $168,587
6 East St. Louis Firefighters Pension Fund East St. Louis City 9.5% $60,376,247 $66,732,525
7 Cairo Firefighters Pension Fund Cairo City 10.9% $4,757,521 $5,338,526
8 Riverdale Police Pension Fund Riverdale Village or Township 14.9% $45,058,163 $52,928,748
9 Washington Park Police Pension Fund Caseyville Village or Township 17.3% $2,295,422 $2,775,919
10 Lynwood Police Pension Fund Lynwood Village or Township 17.5% $13,417,550 $16,254,380
11 Stone Park Police Pension Fund Stone Park City 21.4% $17,485,225 $22,232,105
12 Harvey Firefighters Pension Fund Harvey City 22% $43,143,298 $55,313,475
13 Cairo Police Pension Fund Cairo Village or Township 23.8% $3,594,155 $4,716,195
14 Lincoln Firefighters Pension Fund Lincoln City 24.3% $17,964,106 $23,728,200
15 Burnham Police Pension Fund Burnham Village or Township 25.8% $7,033,692 $9,481,825
16 East Alton Police Pension Fund East Alton Village or Township 29% $7,752,199 $10,913,295
16 Danville Firefighters Pension Fund Danville City 29% $56,012,714 $78,905,481
18 North Chicago Police Pension Fund North Chicago City 29.2% $48,425,528 $68,354,735
19 Lyons Police Pension Fund Lyons Village or Township 30.6% $23,697,686 $34,165,503
20 Braidwood FPD Firefighters Pension Fund Braidwood Fire Protection District 32% $316,114 $464,595
21 Summit Police Pension Fund Summit City 32.6% $29,528,504 $43,781,677
22 Evergreen Park Firefighters Pension Fund Evergreen Park Village or Township 32.7% $2,456,722 $3,650,796
23 Blue Island Firefighters Pension Fund Blue Island City 33.1% $18,491,894 $27,630,414
24 Sauk Village Police Pension Fund Sauk Village Village or Township 34.9% $12,186,385 $18,729,752
25 Rock Island Firefighters Pension Fund Rock Island City 35% $57,571,195 $88,569,214
26 Wood Dale FPD Firefighters Pension Fund Wood Dale City 35.1% $32,350,412 $49,829,895
27 East Alton Firefighters Pension Fund East Alton Village or Township 35.5% $4,448,576 $6,899,172
28 Island Lake Police Pension Fund Island Lake Village or Township 36.8% $6,468,832 $10,231,984
29 Danville Police Pension Fund Danville City 36.9% $50,909,230 $80,729,515
30 Madison Police Pension Fund Madison City 37.1% $7,796,590 $12,403,202
31 Lincoln Police Pension Fund Lincoln City 37.3% $18,839,226 $30,062,677
32 Fairfield Police Pension Fund Fairfield City 38% $5,894,772 $9,500,767
33 Lansing Police Pension Fund Lansing Village or Township 38.8% $69,901,857 $114,240,820
34 Roberts Park FPD Firefighters Pension Fund Justice Fire Protection District 39% $17,530,740 $28,746,543
35 Forest Park Firefighters Pension Fund Forest Park Village or Township 39.2% $27,473,776 $45,186,356
36 Chicago Heights Firefighters Pension Fund Chicago Heights City 39.3% $62,391,745 $102,720,418
37 Rock Island Police Pension Fund Rock Island City 39.7% $73,031,157 $121,052,017
37 Orland Hills Police Pension Fund Orland Hills Village or Township 39.7% $6,319,400 $10,478,984
39 Worth Police Pension Fund Worth Village or Township 39.8% $21,860,053 $36,333,997
39 Blue Island Police Pension Fund Blue Island City 39.8% $32,059,062 $53,267,960
41 North Chicago Firefighters Pension Fund North Chicago City 40.4% $20,483,690 $34,370,261
42 Cicero Firefighters’ Pension Fund Cicero Village or Township 40.8% $79,226,461 $133,790,594
43 Forest Park Police Pension Fund Forest Park Village or Township 41% $37,697,488 $63,937,177
44 Melrose Park Firefighters Pension Fund Melrose Park City 41.1% $61,238,248 $103,986,729
45 Kewanee Firefighters Pension Fund Kewanee Fire Protection District 41.3% $11,229,196 $19,115,798
46 North Riverside Firefighters Pension Fund North Riverside Village or Township 42.2% $18,334,006 $31,699,557
47 Willow Springs Police Pension Fund Willow Springs City 42.3% $7,186,960 $12,450,998
48 East St. Louis Police Pension Fund East St. Louis City 42.8% $31,710,417 $55,399,611
49 Mattoon Firefighters Pension Fund Mattoon City 43.3% $28,949,965 $51,067,176
50 Streator Firefighters Pension Fund Streator City 43.7% $9,841,102 $17,489,034
51 Pekin Firefighters Pension Fund Pekin City 44.2% $44,972,438 $80,603,425
52 Antioch Police Pension Fund Antioch Village or Township 44.3% $22,507,263 $40,430,804
53 Murphysboro Police Pension Fund Murphysboro City 44.8% $7,400,477 $13,406,403
54 Rockford Firefighters Pension Fund Rockford City 45% $243,720,485 $442,821,841
55 West Frankfort Police Pension Fund West Frankfort City 45.1% $8,460,333 $15,416,610
56 Cahokia Heights Police Pension Fund Centreville City 45.3% $19,664,032 $35,981,323
57 Hillside Police Pension Fund Hillside Village or Township 45.9% $28,601,329 $52,865,931
58 Oakbrook Terrace Fire Protection District Pension Fund Oakbrook Terrace City 46% $2,639,694 $4,889,901
58 Melrose Park Police Pension Fund Melrose Park Village or Township 46% $56,186,523 $104,105,647
58 Charleston Police Pension Fund Charleston City 46% $22,275,326 $41,224,924
61 Dekalb Firefighters Pension Fund De Kalb City 46.1% $52,987,441 $98,225,613
62 Oak Lawn Police Pension Fund Oak Lawn City 46.3% $117,769,104 $219,171,942
62 Stickney Police Pension Fund Stickney Village or Township 46.3% $11,415,170 $21,246,665
64 Canton Firefighters Pension Fund Canton City 46.4% $11,552,418 $21,564,491
65 North Riverside Police Pension Fund North Riverside Village or Township 46.6% $26,723,002 $50,002,140
65 Riverside Police Pension Fund Riverside City 46.6% $17,923,424 $33,563,776
67 Manhattan Police Pension Fund Manhattan Village or Township 46.7% $5,224,436 $9,810,452
68 Hillside Firefighters Pension Fund Hillside Village or Township 47% $19,279,606 $36,391,365
68 Lasalle Police Pension Fund La Salle Village or Township 47% $14,445,385 $27,269,276
68 River Grove Police Pension Fund River Grove Village or Township 47% $18,393,924 $34,717,954
71 Franklin Park Police Pension Fund Franklin Park Village or Township 47.3% $42,337,489 $80,377,132
72 Mattoon Police Pension Fund Mattoon City 47.4% $29,226,396 $55,546,726
73 West Frankfort Firefighters Pension Fund West Frankfort City 47.6% $5,931,509 $11,320,574
74 Park Forest Police Pension Fund Park Forest Village or Township 47.7% $33,109,771 $63,259,495
75 Jerseyville Police Pension Fund Jerseyville Village or Township 47.8% $8,021,268 $15,361,077
76 Marengo Police Pension Fund Marengo City 47.9% $8,865,811 $17,022,277
76 Maywood Police Pension Fund Maywood Village or Township 47.9% $40,650,996 $78,048,329
78 Charleston Firefighters Pension Fund Charleston City 48.1% $21,070,752 $40,612,567
78 Ottawa Firefighters Pension Fund Ottawa City 48.1% $21,080,148 $40,601,081
78 Matteson Firefighters Pension Fund Matteson Village or Township 48.1% $28,336,901 $54,641,705
81 Olympia Fields Police Pension Fund Olympia Fields Village or Township 48.3% $15,064,305 $29,129,269
81 Wayne Police Pension Fund Wayne Village or Township 48.3% $2,483,666 $4,803,696
83 Chicago Heights Police Pension Fund Chicago Heights Village or Township 48.5% $66,721,222 $129,652,992
84 Itasca Police Pension Fund Itasca Village or Township 48.8% $22,478,727 $43,875,854
84 Schiller Park Police Pension Fund Schiller Park Village or Township 48.8% $27,674,551 $54,075,306
86 Rockford Police Pension Fund Rockford City 49.7% $243,290,612 $484,039,160
87 Bridgeview Firefighters Pension Fund Bridgeview Village or Township 49.8% $31,729,816 $63,208,657
88 Carmi Police Pension Fund Carmi City 49.9% $5,017,333 $10,004,863
89 Savanna Firefighters Pension Fund Savanna City 50% $1,352,246 $2,703,812
90 Des Plaines Police Pension Fund Des Plaines Village or Township 50.2% $98,091,406 $196,967,826
91 South Chicago Heights Police Pension Fund South Chicago Heights City 50.4% $3,962,996 $7,982,608
91 Centralia Police Pension Fund Centralia City 50.4% $14,338,909 $28,938,213
91 Harrisburg Police Pension Fund Harrisburg City 50.4% $7,035,937 $14,185,669
94 Niles Police Pension Fund Niles City 50.5% $51,077,927 $103,200,536
94 Barrington Police Pension Fund Barrington Village or Township 50.5% $26,351,154 $53,218,265
94 Pontoon Beach Police Pension Fund Pontoon Beach Village or Township 50.5% $7,579,533 $15,319,113
97 Flossmoor Firefighters Pension Fund Flossmoor Village or Township 50.6% $3,521,600 $7,132,460
98 Caseyville Police Pension Fund Caseyville Village or Township 50.7% $3,440,097 $6,979,835
98 Zion Police Pension Fund Zion City 50.7% $37,726,460 $76,487,262
100 Springfield Firefighter’s Pension Fund Springfield Village or Township 50.8% $173,150,294 $352,156,867

Data in this report is provided by the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI). Source information is available here.



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