Romeoville Police Pension Fund places 423rd for lowest funding ratio among Illinois pension systems in 2024

According to the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI), the Romeoville Police Pension Fund ranked 423rd among Illinois’ least-funded police and fire pension systems in 2024.

This pension fund, operating under the Village or Township system in Illinois, disclosed total pension liabilities of $88,380,092, with an actuarial funding value of $65,885,812.

That resulted in a funding ratio of 74.5%, meaning the fund was short 25.5% of the actuarial assets needed to pay out all promised retirement benefits.

The resulting unfunded liability reached about $22,494,280, reflecting the shortfall between assets and obligations.

The Illinois Department of Insurance maintains and shares information about local police and fire pensions. These systems are financially supported by residents in each municipality.

As of 2024, there were 300 fire and 363 police pension funds statewide. Some municipalities fund both types, while others maintain only one.

Not all municipalities are saddled with pension debt. For 2024, 64 municipalities reported no outstanding police or fire pension obligations, so they were omitted from the rankings.

Referred to as “pension benefits,” police and fire pension obligations serve as deferred compensation. Local officials promise retirement benefits to public safety workers, but they sometimes do so without sufficient support from either employees or taxpayers. This shortfall often leads to accumulating pension debt, shifting the financial obligation to the next generation. To maintain these pensions, municipalities make annual contributions—typically through property taxes—and details on these payments are captured in data compiled by the IDOI.

For 2024, Illinois’ police and fire pension funds had an average funding ratio of 65.1%, indicating ongoing funding challenges for most local public safety retirement plans.

The lowest funding ratio in Illinois among these systems was Glencoe Firefighters Pension Fund at only 0.9%.

On the other hand, Savoy Firefighters Pension Fund was the most overfunded, posting a 797.7% funding ratio with $149,803 in actuarial assets—far surpassing its liabilities.

Statewide, Illinois’ overall pension debt grew by $1.5 billion in 2024, reaching $143.7 billion, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability found. This extends three years of increases, positioning the debt just under near a 20-year peak of $144.2 billion—as recorded in 2020.

An analysis by the State Department of Insurance’s Public Pension Division revealed suburban and downstate public safety pension systems in Illinois held $12.1 billion in unfunded actuarial liabilities during 2024 and combined for a 49.18% funding ratio—which means those funds had less than half the assets needed to match promised benefits.

A study from the Equable Institute found that Illinois consistently allocated nearly 20% of its total GDP to unfunded pension debt as of 2024.

The Illinois Policy Institute, identified as a nonpartisan think tank, contends that this growing debt is raising the cost for taxpayers. According to the group, taxpayers’ contributions to state pension systems rose from $614 million in fiscal year 1996 to $11.2 billion in fiscal year 2025.

Data in this article comes from the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI). The original data is available here.