La Grange trustees voted unanimously to amend the fiscal 2025-26 budget to cover pension costs that ran higher than planned. Several residents objected to the retroactive change.
Police pension fund expenses ran $79,670 over budget. Trustee Peggy Peterson, reading from a staff summary, attributed the overrun to costs tied to a disability, investment fees from the Illinois Police Officers’ Pension Investment Fund and monthly accounting fees.
Fire pension fund expenses ran $15,135 higher than projected, Peterson said. Additional retirements increased pension payments, and accounting fees also rose, according to the summary.
Village ordinance and generally accepted accounting principles bar spending above budgeted amounts at the fund level, Peterson said during the Oct. 12 meeteing. Amendments that change a fund’s total spending need a two-thirds vote of the board.
Staff recommended approval. Peterson made the motion, and Trustee Tim O’Brien seconded it.
Village Manager Jack Knight said the amendment applies to the fiscal year that has ended and lets the village close its books.
“It’s not related to the current fiscal year that we’re in,” he said.
Knight described such amendments as common.
Trustee Steve Palmer asked whether officers must give notice before retiring. A village official said officers generally give about a month’s notice, but this year also brought an on-duty disability injury.
“So, there’s no way to have predicted that,” the official said.
Palmer also asked why accounting costs had risen. Knight said the pension fund moved from in-house management to an outside consultant during the year. The cost now appears differently, he said, because the village no longer pays in-house staff to do that work.
Resident John Pluto said he had hoped bad bookkeeping was behind the village after the April 2025 audit found material weaknesses and significant deficiencies.
“Have we learned nothing from last year’s audit fiasco?” he asked.
Pluto also questioned why pension administrative costs in the current budget are far above what the village spent in the year ending April 30, 2025.
Resident Al Foreman asked who missed the overruns, the village or its pension accounting firm. He asked the village to say what its auditors think of the retroactive change.
“I really am disappointed in this retroactive cleanup,” he said.
Resident Jonathan Robinson said the village should approve the expense and leave the budget alone.
“The budget was a prediction. You screwed it up,” he said.