Rock Island Firefighters Pension Fund ranks 25th for underfunding among Illinois pension systems in 2024

The Rock Island Firefighters Pension Fund placed 25th among the most underfunded police and fire pension systems in Illinois for 2024, Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI) records showed.

Part of Illinois’ City pension system, the fund listed total pension liabilities of $88,569,214 with actuarial assets of $30,998,019.

The resulting funding level stood at 35%, meaning the fund was short by 65% of the assets needed to meet its retirement obligations.

This gap created an unfunded liability of about $57,571,195 for the system.

The Illinois Department of Insurance tracks and releases data on local police and fire pensions, which are financially supported by residents in each city.

As of 2024, Illinois hosted 300 fire pension funds and 363 for police. Some cities manage both types, while others have just one.

Sixty-four municipalities did not carry outstanding police or fire pension debt and thus were not included in these rankings for 2024.

Police and fire pension responsibilities—often called “pension benefits”—are considered deferred pay. While municipal officials promise retirement payments, they have sometimes made these commitments without fully securing required contributions from staff or local taxpayers. This lack of funding builds up municipal pension debt, resulting in future generations inheriting the fiscal load. To maintain funding for these benefits, municipalities provide yearly contributions, usually financed by property tax revenue, captured in IDOI collections.

Statewide, police and fire pension funds in Illinois reported an average funding ratio of 65.1% in 2024, exposing funding gaps facing local public safety retirement plans.

The Glencoe Firefighters Pension Fund recorded the state’s lowest funding ratio, at only 0.9%.

Conversely, Savoy Firefighters Pension Fund posted the highest funding ratio recorded, at 797.7%, with an actuarial funding amount of $149,803—far topping its service liabilities.

Illinois’ unfunded pension liabilities increased by $1.5 billion in 2024 to reach $143.7 billion, according to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, marking a third year of rising total and staying just under the 20-year high of $144.2 billion established in 2020.

Data from the State Department of Insurance Public Pension Division indicates that, in 2024, suburban and downstate Illinois pension funds faced unfunded actuarial liabilities of $12.1 billion and showed a combined funding level of 49.18%, lacking more than half the resources required for promised benefits.

A 2024 study by the Equable Institute found that Illinois had the highest proportion of state GDP tied up in unfunded pension liabilities, close to 20%.

The Illinois Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group, said this trend is resulting in increasing taxpayer expenses. According to the Institute, taxpayer-capped contributions to state pension funds grew from $614 million in fiscal 1996 to $11.2 billion by fiscal 2025.

Information presented in this article is sourced from the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI), with original data available here.