Norwood Park FPD Firefighters Pension Fund places 148th for lowest funding among Illinois police and fire pensions in 2024

In 2024, the Norwood Park FPD Firefighters Pension Fund based in Harwood Hts held the 148th position among Illinois’ most underfunded police and fire retirement systems, according to the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI).

Operating as part of Illinois’ Fire Protection District pension system, the fund had total pension liabilities of $40,103,670 with an actuarial funding value of $22,246,261.

This results in a funding ratio of 55.5%, indicating the fund was missing 44.5% of the pension assets needed to fulfill all promised retirements.

This asset shortfall created approximately $17,857,409 in unfunded liabilities for the pension system.

The Illinois Department of Insurance maintains and shares information on local police and fire pensions, which are systems that rely on residents in each municipality for financial backing.

As of 2024, there were 300 fire and 363 police pension funds operating statewide in Illinois. Some cities fund both types, while others operate only one.

Some Illinois municipalities do not have any unfunded pension obligations. In 2024, 64 cities reported no outstanding liabilities for their police or fire pension systems and were omitted from these rankings.

Police and fire pension system requirements, often called “pension benefits,” act as deferred compensation. Municipal administrations commit to providing retirement payouts to public safety employees, sometimes without securing enough funding from workers or taxpayers, resulting in mounting municipal pension debt that becomes the responsibility of future taxpayers. Annual contributions to maintain the pensions, which come mainly from property taxes, are shown in data compiled by the IDOI.

Statewide, Illinois police and fire pension plans had an average funding ratio of 65.1% in 2024, pointing to significant funding challenges facing municipal public safety pensions.

The pension fund with the lowest funding ratio was Glencoe Firefighters Pension Fund, at 0.9%.

By contrast, the best-funded pension system was the Savoy Firefighters Pension Fund, reaching a funding ratio of 797.7% and an actuarial value of $149,803, far surpassing its obligations.

Illinois’ cumulative pension debt rose by $1.5 billion in 2024 to total $143.7 billion, per a Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability report. This increase is the third consecutive annual gain, bringing the figure close to a 20-year peak of $144.2 billion seen in 2020.

The State Department of Insurance Public Pension Division’s report shows that suburban and downstate funds in Illinois faced $12.1 billion in unfunded actuarial liability in 2024 and held a collective funding ratio of 49.18%. As a result, they lacked more than half the assets needed for guaranteed payments.

A 2024 report by the Equable Institute found that Illinois allocated the highest percentage of a state’s GDP to pension debt—close to 20%.

The Illinois Policy Institute, which describes itself as a nonpartisan think tank, says this trend places an expanding weight on taxpayers. The organization pointed out that taxpayer contributions to Illinois’ state pension systems climbed from $614 million in fiscal year 1996 to $11.2 billion for fiscal year 2025.

This article uses information compiled by the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI), with the underlying data available here.