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Carbondale Reporter

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Analysis: Carbondale Firefighters Pension Fund would go bankrupt in 20 years without taxpayer subsidy

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Without members and taxpayers subsidizing its revenue, the Carbondale Firefighters Pension Fund would have lost $699,612 in 2018, according to a Carbondale Reporter analysis of the latest data reported to the Illinois Department of Insurance Pension Division.

The fund has $13,811,722 in total assets. If the fund’s annual losses stay the same, it would run out of money in 20 years without these subsidies.

The fund earned $956,575 in investment income and other revenue in 2018. At the same time, it paid out $1,656,187 in expenses, according to the 2019 biennial report detailing the health of each of the state’s pension funds and retirement systems. The difference between the two shows the fund’s annual loss without subsidies.

Taxpayers added $1,238,607 to the fund’s revenue last year – an amount that has increased from $744,187 five years ago. Members contributed an additional $227,274 – $70,294 more than five years ago.

In all, subsidies amounted to $1,465,881 in 2018.

Carbondale Firefighters Pension Fund non-subsidy revenue over five years
YearTotal non-subsidy revenueTotal expensesOutcome without subsidies
2018$956,575$1,656,187-$699,612
2017$1,141,021$1,701,916-$560,895
2016-$305,431$1,631,965-$1,937,396
2015$724,872$1,481,865-$756,993
2014$834,485$1,361,505-$527,020

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