The Chicagoist will be launching later but in the meantime please enjoy our archives.

State Investigates Quarter Million Dollar Pension in Bellwood

By Prescott Carlson in News on Aug 8, 2010 8:00PM

2010_08_08_mccampbell.jpg
Village handout photo via the Chicago Tribune
Did you just hear that loud POP? That was the anti-government pension types' collective heads exploding when they found out that Roy McCampbell, a former village administrator in Bellwood, is now collecting a pension of $252,689 a year -- the highest in the state -- after boosting his salary to $472,255 his last year before his retirement. According to a Chicago Tribune report, McCampbell achieved that feat by assigning himself 10 different job titles. Even without that supposed gaming of the system, McCampbell still would have been able to retire at age 55 with a cushy $180,000 a year pension. For sake of comparison, former U.S. Presidents currently receive a pension of $191,300 per year.

The staggering pension amount has drawn the attention of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, who manages the pension systems of all local government and school districts in the state besides the City of Chicago and Cook County. It currently pays out to approximately 92,000 benefit recipients, of which McCampbell leads the pack. The executive director of the IMRF told the Trib that him and his employees said, "Oh, my God," upon seeing McCampbell's pension figures, and they are currently reviewing whether or not all of his service credits are valid.

But hey, McCampbell did supposedly work 10 jobs, perhaps he deserves it. After all, it takes a lot of work to serve a community of 20,000 residents. Over 7% of which are below the poverty line. Whose per capita income is a little over $19,000. A town with the highest combined state/county/city sales tax rate in the country. Where the median home prices are dropping like a rock.

Job well done, sir!