Is City Council Bound by Police Pension Fund Board's Decision Regarding Pension Fund ?

In Board of Trustees of the Police Pension Fund v. City of Evanston, 281 Ill. App. 3d 1047, 217 Ill. Dec. 568, 667 N.E.2d 657 (1996), the police pension fund board certified that $ 2,215,561 was needed to fund the police pension fund. City of Evanston, 281 Ill. App. 3d at 1050. The city council levied a tax for the police pension fund that gave the fund $ 825,298 less than the police pension fund board had certified. City of Evanston, 281 Ill. App. 3d at 1050. The issue presented to the court was whether the city council could ignore the police pension board's recommendation on the amount of funding that was needed to fund police pensions. City of Evanston, 281 Ill. App. 3d at 1049. The court concluded that the city council did not have to accept the amount that the police pension board had suggested, but the court also concluded that the city council must follow Illinois law in calculating the alternative amount it selected. City of Evanston, 281 Ill. App. 3d at 1049. The court reasoned that the city council was not bound by the board's conclusion about the amount needed to fund the pensions because nowhere in the statutes did it indicate that the city council would be bound by the board's conclusions. City of Evanston, 281 Ill. App. 3d at 1052.