OTTAWA–LaSalle County-area retired government employees receive lavish, gold-plated pensions, and, according to Jim Tobin, Chairman of the Illinois Taxpayer Education Foundation (ITEF), the real reason Springfield politicians passed the 67% state income tax increase is to pump more taxpayer dollars into the floundering pension plans of retired government employees, including those from LaSalle County.
“Those receiving the largest annual pensions are retired government-school educators,” said Tobin, “and the state income tax increase pumps even more tax dollars into these pension funds. LaSalle County’s retired public school teachers in the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) are really raking it in. The largest annual TRS pension went to James C. Bagley, formerly of Peru Elementary SD 124, whose annual pension is $122,491 — $10,208 a month. Charles E. Hager, formerly of Streator TWP HSD 40, not only received an annual pension of $86,219, but already has collected $1,810,595 in pension payments.”
Jim Tobin speaks to the Ottawa press at the historic Reddick Mansion on January 25, 2011. In 1858, the Reddick Mansion was where the Lincoln-Douglas debate took place.
