Tag Archive for Illinois

Tentative agreement reached for Illinois teachers in Elgin

May 14, 2012 admin Employee Benefit News for Public Sector Employers

After teachers worked without a contract for several months, officials for Illinois' Elgin Area School District U-46 and members of the Elgin Teachers Association say they have reached a tentative contract agreement.

According to the Daily Herald, both sides reached the agreement during the third negotiating session involving a federal mediator. A previous agreement last month was voted down by union members, who said they were concerned with issues such as compensation and the length of the school day.

"The ETA team believes that the district has responded to member concerns," union President Kathy Castle said in an email to membership Friday, according to the source. "We also believe that we have honored the district interests as well."

Teachers will be able to review the final contract language starting this week, according to the paper, and a vote could take place as soon as the end of this month.

The agreement, if approved, would be a significant step for the district's budget planning. Last week, the Daily Herald reported that all six of the district's unions were in the midst of ongoing negotiations.

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Illinois retirement fund costs may be impacted by reduced hiring

April 10, 2012 admin Saving For Retirement

School districts, universities and government agencies in Illinois have hired less than one-third the number of workers expected under the state's new pension plan in its first year.

A bill passed in 2010 determined that employees hired after 2010 would have a new benefits tier, with a higher retirement age, a cap on pensionable earnings, reduced cost-of-living adjustments in retirement and caps on survivor benefits, according to the Rockford Register Star. The slowed pace of hiring may make these changes less financially effective. Projections called for a $70 billion reduction in required state pension contributions over the next 35 years, based on then-current enrollment rates.

With state policymakers already anticipating the savings, slower hiring could spread them out over a longer period and increase the risk of underfunding, the news source notes, as state contributions drop.

Enrollment in the state's five retirement systems was down 1 percent in 2011. Local government employment dropped 2 percent since 2009, and state government employment fell 3 percent in that period. This may reduce long-term costs significantly, potentially reducing future pension liabilities by a significant margin.

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Illinois teachers, officials establish contract

April 3, 2012 admin Lowering Your Benefit Costs Without Eliminating Benefits

The Rockford Education Association and the Illinois school district's board came to a contract agreement recently, ending a difficult negotiation process.

A major issue that prolonged the talks between the two parties was the question of health insurance benefits, the Rockford Register Star reports. District leaders say that the current rate of employer coverage, in which local government pays for 95.5 percent of costs, is unsustainable as healthcare expenses have risen 83 percent in the past decade.

Officials and union representatives were able to agree on a payment strategy in which teachers will accept higher premiums for the coming school year and pay a percent-of-premium in the following two years. One lead negotiator told the news source the deal was fair for both sides, striking a reasonable balance between preserving local government finance limitations and avoiding harmful contribution increases for teacher benefits.

Of the three options that will be available to area teachers in the future, one is a high-deductible account-based health plan. These types of plans are growing more common as employers seek ways to save, which health reimbursement arrangements may help to do.

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