Police and fire pensions get padded despite Illinois' pension deficit crisis

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Shortly before Tim Baldermann retired as Chicago Ridge's police chief, the town boosted his salary by more than $70,000, handing the 44-year-old as big a paycheck in retirement as he earned full time on the police force.

The deputy police chief, who sat on the pension board, received a similar deal. As it did for Baldermann, the town added Dennis Kapelinski's unused vacation time to his final salary — in exchange for opting out of insurance coverage — and gave him a 20 percent raise just before he retired, documents show.

Baldermann, who also is New Lenox's mayor, saw his police pay — including 100 days of unused vacation time — jump from about $127,000 to $199,000 while Kapelinski's salary went from $105,000 to $188,000, according to village documents. Their pension benefits are calculated using final salaries.

Barack Obama's Illinois colleagues are angling for the U.S. government to bailout Illinois pensions one way or another.