Normal Mayor Chris Koos
Normal Mayor Chris Koos said lawmakers helped with fire and police pension funding a couple years ago, but during the spring session of the General Assembly this year, they neutralized the benefit of the earlier action.
Koos said a pension sweetener for police and firefighters will increase what cities and towns must contribute to pensions.
“What happened is the legislature took firefighters and police officers who are in what s called a Tier-II pension system and moved them into the old Tier-I pension system, Koos said on WGLT s Sound Ideas.
Koos said this is not a knock on the value of police officers and firefighters at all, but it does present a challenge for cities and towns to adequately fund pension plans. Those mandated contributions are ramping up for many municipalities as a 2040 deadline approaches to achieve 90% adequacy of funding.
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WGLT The City of Bloomington has released audio recordings from several closed-door meetings the city council held before ending a tax-sharing agreement with Normal.
The City of Bloomington on Tuesday released audio recordings and minutes from several closed-door meetings the city council held in 2016 ad 2017 before ending a longstanding tax-sharing agreement with Normal.
The city shared the material after an appeals court ruled in April the city violated the Open Meetings Act. The city council on Monday voted following executive session to make the contents of those closed-door meetings public.
City Manager Tim Gleason noted in a statement much of the city council and administration have turned over since those meetings in which the council voted to terminate the decades-old Metro Zone agreement with the Town of Normal.
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Can Central Illinois Be Silicon Valley of Electric Vehicles?
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin on Thursday said that Central Illinois has the opportunity to become the electric vehicle Silicon Valley of the 21st Century because of investments that are being made in the region.
May 07, 2021 • (TNS) U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D- Ill., on Thursday said Central Illinois has the opportunity to become the electric vehicle Silicon Valley of the 21st Century because of investments made here. This is the place where hardworking Illinoisans will produce the next generation of vehicles, with companies coming together with local leaders to build us, and to move us toward a cleaner and stronger economy, Durbin said during an afternoon news conference in uptown Normal.