School districts participate in the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois (TRS) as well as the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF). TRS is a cost-sharing, multiple-employer, defined-benefit pension plan, while IMRF is an agent, multiple-employer, defined-benefit pension plan.
For TRS, the state of Illinois maintains the primary responsibility for funding the plan, but contributions from participating employers and members are also required. The TRS Board of Trustees is responsible for the plan’s administration, which includes investing member contributions to fund the pension benefit obligation. Active TRS members’ contribution rate is currently 9.4 percent of creditable earnings. Contributions are submitted to TRS by the employer. The state of Illinois is also required to make contributions directly to TRS on-behalf of TRS-covered employees.
For IMRF, as set by state statute, covered employee members are required to contribute 4.5 percent of their annual covered salary. The statute requires that the employer contribute the amount necessary, in addition to member contributions, to finance the retirement coverage of its own employees. The required employer contribution is determined as part of an annual actuarial valuation (by IMRF or its designee) using certain reportable cost methods, estimated investment rates of return, projected salary increases, and using techniques that spread the effects of short-term volatility in the market value of investments over a five-year period. IMRF is responsible for the plan’s administration, which includes investing member contributions to fund the pension benefit obligation.
TRS financial information, an explanation of TRS benefits, and descriptions of member, employer and state funding requirements can be found in the TRS Comprehensive Annual Financial Report on the TRS website at http://trs.illinois.gov.
IMRF issues a publicly available financial report that includes financial statements and required supplementary information and may be obtained at www.imrf.org.
Anthony Cozzi
Director of Finance and Facilities
River Forest Public Schools District 90