Mark Templeton on the Cook County Forest Preserves' Pension Fund
Cook County Forest Preserves’ Conservation and Policy Council Proposes Cook County Contribute to District Pensions
In a letter sent to the Cook County Board President Preckwinkle and the Cook County Board of Commissioners on July 6, the Forest Preserve District’s Conservation and Policy Council requested that the County Board incorporate the Forest Preserves’ Pension Fund into the County’s intergovernmental agreement with the Cook County Pension Fund. The Conservation and Policy Council was created in 2015 to oversee and implement the District’s Next Century Conservation Plan (NCCP), which is a 25-year plan that identifies the long-term strategic goals and priorities of the District. Mark Templeton, Vice Chair of the Conservation and Policy Council, made the same appeal to the Cook County Board of Commissioners at a July 28 meeting of the Cook County Pension Committee. According to the Policy Council, including the Forest Preserves in the IGA should authorize supplemental annual payments to the Forest Preserves Pension Fund in addition to the Cook County Pension Fund, thereby reaching the needed annual $13 million contribution to the Forest Preserves Fund. The Policy Council’s letter notes that the supplemental contribution to the Forest Preserves Pension Fund would amount to only 2% of the County’s supplemental contribution of $320 million.
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