Peter Kopsaftis
Barrington Township voters will see a question on the November ballot about pension reform, but the outcome will only be advisory.
Last week, the township board voted to authorize a non-binding ballot question asking: “Do you support constitutional pension reform to protect workers’ existing retirements and generate savings which could provide property tax relief or be reinvested in the community?”
Barrington Township Supervisor Robert Alberding
Courtesy of Barrington Township
The proposal came from the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative government finance think tank based in Chicago. It has the backing of Barrington Township Republican Committeeman Peter Kopsaftis and his Barrington Township Republican Organization.
“For over a decade, taxpayers have watched as your property taxes have increased and local governments have suffered as your budgets are stretched thin by the unfunded state pension mandate,” said Ravi Mishra, policy researcher at the policy institute, who testified at Tuesday’s township board meeting. “We think it’s time to give voters a voice on this issue.”
The Barrington Township Republican Organization, in a release, said Illinois residents have felt the “adverse consequences” of a “pension crisis (that) has been around for decades.”
Barrington Township Supervisor Robert Alberding said Monday voters in Barrington, South Barrington, Barrington Hills, portions of Inverness and a pocket of unincorporated area will have a chance to weigh in.
“Because this is going to be a presidential election, there is probably going to be a good turnout,” he said.
The policy institute is proposing changes to the state’s constitution similar to 2013 reforms passed by the legislature. That law was struck down two years later by the state Supreme Court, which deemed it “unconstitutional” because public pension benefits would have been “diminished” by the reforms.