Kane County Reporter

Republican House hopeful Dan Ugaste wants to see logic prevail in the way Illinois manages its school pension system.

“Certain districts shouldn’t be able to burden others or the entire system for something they only want to see happen in their own districts,” he told the Kane County Reporter. “If districts want to do something that runs counter to the rules everyone else has to live under they should be held responsible for the consequences.”

Several public school systems have been forced to pay out upwards of $50 million in penalties and fines to the Teacher’s Retirement System for violating a 2005 law regarding “pension spiking,” according to the Illinois News Network (INN).

Richard Johnson

The infractions occurred when school boards granted certain retiring educators end-of-career raises of as much as 20 percent, thereby ensuring that their pension and retirement packages would be more lucrative over the life of their benefits.

INN findings also uncovered that many of the most recent fines were incurred during a two-year period when the state was forced to operate with no budget in place and many top school administrators were clamoring about not being able to open their doors because of a severe funding crisis.

Critics also charge that the practice of “pension spiking” is something the state cannot afford given Illinois taxpayers are already handcuffed by some of the thorniest taxes in the nation and unfunded pension liability easily tops $130 billion.

“No one’s saying a district should be prohibited from doing this, just that if you are that district should be completely responsible for covering the added cost,” said Ugaste, running against Democrat Richard Johnson in the 65th District. “Right now, the problem is as things are being done it’s leaving all taxpayers a huge burden that we can no longer afford.”

Once in Springfield, Ugaste said he plans to look into changing the whole formula for how pensions are funded and administered.

“I think we have to agree on a plan that works for everyone and that we all have to adhere to,” he said. “We just can’t have certain districts crippling the entire system.”

The 65th House District includes Batavia, Burlington, Dundee, Elgin, Geneva, Grafton, Hampshire, Plato, Rutland and St. Charles.