The following article is reprinted with the permission of the Illinois News Network.  You will note it was written by former Northwest Herald Editor Brett Rowland>

INN investigation: McHenry County schools continue to pad pensions, pay $620k in penalties for practice

• By Brett Rowland | Illinois News Network

Some McHenry County school districts continue to give employees big raises just before retirement more than a decade after a state law aimed to limit the practice was passed.

The county’s school districts have had to pay $619,833.92 directly to the Teachers’ Retirement System of the state of Illinois since 2014 for giving out raises and sick time allowances, according to TRS data obtained through the state’s open records laws.

Johnsburg District 12, which serves about 1,900 students, has had to pay $199,874.43 to TRS since 2014 to make up for the excess sick time and pay raises given to employees.

Other districts in McHenry County ended up paying far less.

Huntley Community School District 158, which serves 9,500 students, paid $20,300.22 to TRS during the same period.

The five highest penalties were paid by

• Johnsburg District 12 ($115,604.55)
• McHenry Community High School District 156 ($115,604.55
• Community High School District 155 ($52,259.25)
• Cary Community Consolidated [Grade] School District 26 (49,579.18) and
• McHenry [Grade] School District 15 ($49,448.10).

Of the 20 public school districts in McHenry County, 17 districts had to pay what TRS refers to as “excess costs” for salary increases or giving out more sick time than obligated by collective bargaining agreements.

Three districts –

• McHenry County Regional Office of Education District 44
• Riley Community Consolidated District 18 and
• Harrison School District 36 (Wonder Lake) –

avoided the penalties altogether.

Community Unit School District 300, which is based in Algonquin and serves more than 20,000 students in 15 communities, has paid penalties of $412,875.51 since fiscal 2014, according to TRS records. Most of the communities the district serves are in Kane County, outside of McHenry County [although Algonquin, lots of Lake in the Hills and southern Cary is in District 300].

Johnsburg District 12’s penalties to TRS were largely the result of a benefit offered to educators that district administrators did not think would trigger excess cost payments under the law, said Annie Mulvaney, the district’s business manager.

The district offered $1,200 to educators who opted not to take the district’s health insurance. TRS recognized the $1,200 benefit as a creditable earning to all TRS-covered employees, not just those who selected the option.

Because retiring teachers were already getting 6 percent salary increases under terms of the district’s contract with the teachers union, the $1,200 cash-in-lieu of benefit pushed them over the 6 percent threshold.

TRS officials are in the process of auditing the district’s bills and annual reports for multiple years.

Mulvaney said she was “very confident” that the final bill would be less than $199,874.43.

She said the total won’t be known until the audit process is completed and creditable earnings are adjusted for all employees.

TRS records show that 13 years after lawmakers passed a law designed to curb big pay hikes before retirement, many school districts continue the practice and stick taxpayers with the penalty payments for doing so.

McHenry County school districts are by no means outliers.

Statewide, school districts paid $23.8 million to TRS since fiscal year 2014 for excess sick time and end-of-career pay raises.

Pensions for educators are based on their final salary in the years just before retirement.

Big end-of-career spikes can significantly boost the annual pension payments an educator receives in retirement and the total amount the taxpayer-supported pension system has to pay out over the term of the benefit.