Kane County Reporter

Hampshire Fire Protection District isn't at all affected by the news this past summer about actuary Timothy W. Sharpe's suspension, which prompted one lawmaker to call for pension plans to be recalculated and reviewed, a village finance official said during a recent interview.

"We have not used Tim Sharpe's services for over 3 years," Hampshire Fire Protection District Financial Director Jody Remakel told Kane County Reporter. "We have been having our actuarial study completed by Lauterbach and Amen since there were concerns of his numbers."

When Sharpe was working on the district's pension fund, the district took proactive steps above and beyond his services to ensure the fund remained sound, Remakel said.

| FreeImages

"Mr. Sharpe's calculations provided us with the guidance we needed to properly fund our pension," she said. "However, each year, we added additional monies to the pension fund to help in closing the underfunded requirement."

Closing the underfunded requirement may have been very foresighted. In late August, Illinois state House Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) publicly called for recalculation and review of Illinois pension plans that Sharpe had been involved in.

"You cannot begin to address a problem if the magnitude isn't fully understood," Skillicorn said in his Aug. 29 statement calling for the recalculation and review. "With the suspension of Mr. Sharpe, it is imperative that we conduct a review and recalculation of every pension he was involved in. The state of Illinois carries a massive unfunded pension liability that is estimated to be anywhere from $150 billion to $250 billion affecting our credit rating, which is just barely above 'junk' status, while many municipalities are severely underfunded as well. The public has a right to know if the situation is even worse."

Skillicorn has represented the 66th State House District since he first was elected to the seat in 2016 and he ran as an unopposed incumbent during this month's midterm elections. The 66th State House District is located within Kane and McHenry counties and includes much or all of Huntley, Lake in The Hills and Algonquin.

Sharpe received a two-year suspension from the American Academy of Actuaries on Aug. 20, according to a notice of public discipline issued by the academy the same day. Sharpe received the suspension "for materially failing to comply" with portions of the academy's code of professional conduct, including provisions regarding honesty, integrity and competence, according to the notice.

At the end of his two-year suspension, if Sharpe wants to resume membership in the academy, he will have to undergo academy professionalism that will result in an academy reinstatement.

Sharpe's suspension garnered attention outside the academy because of valuations he performed on behalf of several municipal police and fire pension plans in the state. Sharpe also was working on pensions in the state prior to his suspension, while complaints against him were being investigated by the academy.

Sharpe and the academy have been at odds before his suspension. In January, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Sharpe against the academy in which he sought damages and injunctive relief from "alleged unlawful dissemination of information regarding Mr. Sharpe's disciplinary proceeding within the organization."

The controversy and concerns around Sharpe's suspension was never likely to have touched Hampshire Fire Protection District, Remakel said.  

"We are a small fund, only just reaching the $2.5 million level," she said. "The various costs put on the by Illinois laws make it very difficult to increase the fund when you are a smaller organization. Mr. Sharpe's services were considerably less than the larger organizations that exist in Illinois."