Harvey pension debacle could be first of many in Illinois

159th Street in Harvey

Later this week Harvey, Illinois will lay off half of its police officers and firefighters because the corrupt south suburb of Chicago has been shorting its pension funds for years.

More may be coming.

From WTTW Chicago:

This could just be the first shoe to drop.

The city of North Chicago is being penalized as well. And according to an analysis by Amanda Kass, a researcher at the University of Chicago, there are 74 police or fire pension funds in towns across the state that are as similarly underfunded as Harvey (you can download that list of funds here). In the Chicago area, they include Burbank, Evergreen Park, Maywood, Melrose Park and Niles – to name a few. The Civic Federation’s Laurence Msall says these towns could go the same route.

“If they ignore the law and don’t make the contribution as Harvey has, then yes, those municipalities all around the state have ability to seek an intercept of state revenues that would otherwise come to the municipality,” Msall said.

The complicating factor for Harvey is that it has had years of decline and corruption in government. Also, property taxes are very high and there is almost nowhere to go for revenue.

That's why the state is called ILL-inois.

America, do we really want a blue wave in 2018? Isn't one Illinois enough?