Fitch Ratings said on Thursday that Cook County's plan to significantly boost payments to its pension fund over the amount required by Illinois law could lead to legal challenges by taxpayers, Reuters reported on Friday. Illinois' biggest county, which is home to Chicago, passed a fiscal 2016 budget on Wednesday that increases its pension payment by $270.5 million over the $195 million required by state law, according to the credit rating agency. Revenue for the bigger payment will come from a 1 percentage point increase in the county's sales tax that is expected to raise $308 million for the budget. Cook County, like the state of Illinois, Chicago, and the Chicago Public Schools, has been struggling with a big unfunded pension liability and limited ability to cut costs due to an Illinois constitutional provision protecting public worker retirement benefits from being reduced. Legislation pushed by the county to change retirement benefits and require actuarial funding stalled in the Illinois Legislature. Pension reform laws enacted for Illinois and Chicago retirement systems were found by state courts to be unconstitutional.
