East Central Reporter

Without members and taxpayers subsidizing its revenue, the Charleston Firefighters Pension Fund would have lost $967,972 in 2018, according to a East Central Reporter analysis of the latest data reported to the Illinois Department of Insurance Pension Division.

The fund has $13,664,075 in total assets. If the fund’s annual losses stay the same, it would run out of money in 15 years without these subsidies.

The fund earned $697,362 in investment income and other revenue in 2018. At the same time, it paid out $1,665,334 in expenses, according to the 2019 biennial report detailing the health of each of the state’s pension funds and retirement systems. The difference between the two shows the fund’s annual loss without subsidies.

Taxpayers added $1,077,518 to the fund’s revenue last year – an amount that has increased from $711,004 five years ago. Members contributed an additional $198,334 – $78,604 less than five years ago.

In all, subsidies amounted to $1,275,852 in 2018.

Year	Total non-subsidy revenue	Total expenses	Outcome without subsidies
2018	$697,362	$1,665,334	-$967,972
2017	$969,426	$1,618,258	-$648,832
2016	-$321,056	$1,565,278	-$1,886,334
2015	$970,210	$1,565,595	-$595,385
2014	$808,792	$1,477,250	-$668,458