(25 News)–Peoria property owners will be getting a new bill next month, the public safety pension fee. It was approved by city council last year during budget discussions, a plan to raise money for its public safety pension obligations.
The fee will be based on the size of your property by square feet. You’ll have to pay it once a year for three years. Each year, you’ll see that dollar amount go up a bit.
City Manager Patrick Urich said the average Peorian will pay $25 this year and $35 by 2021.
“We have to either ensure that we’re maximizing the amount of money that the pension funds are earning or that we look at finding some sort of relief from the requirement that we have that we be 90% funded by the year 2040,” said Urich.
Urich said the pension is a constitutional guarantee that must be paid. The public safety pension costs is the largest expenditure of the city’s budget, growing at rate of nearly 11-percent annually. The 2019 revenue is estimated at $1.2 million from the fee.
Firefighters Union 50 President Ryan Brady said the recent cuts to public safety have just added to the problem.
Brady said each individual pays into their pension.
“When you cut those people and you reduce the number of employees, you’re losing the employees contribution and you still are on the hook for all the people that retired.” said Brady “It is frustrating for employees, police and fire, that risk their lives now to be demonized for the retirement security in which they earn because we’re not entitled to social security, this is our retirement.”
On Tuesday the Peoria City Council will vote to create a call center to answer the public’s questions. Urich said with an estimated 100 calls to come in each day they believe it will cost $90,000 over the next two years. Money coming out of that pension fund.
“The call center is really designed to we know when we send out 45,000 bills that we’re going to to get a lot of questions,” said Urich.
The vote for the call center will take place at the city council meeting at 6 p.m. at city hall.
