39
investment of funds with a reasonable
degree of flexibility.
Each of the Illinois pension plans
operates through a retirement board or
board of trustees which, in most cases,
is a body of from five to seven mem
bers and consists of persons represent
ing both the employer and the employ
ees. In a few of the systems the re
tirement board includes one represen
tative of the pensioned employees. In
asmuch as the size of the governing
board bears some relation to its effec
tiveness, it is generally recognized that
it should not be so large as to include
disinterested members, yet be l a r g e
enough to allow adequate representation
for both the employer and the employ-,
ees. The Illinois systems appear to meet
these general consideration, except that
representation of annuitants on all re
tirement boards might be urged on
various grounds.
The number of employees m a d e
available to the board depends very
largely upon the nature and size of the
pension system. In the smaller muni
cipal systems, public officers such as
the city clerk or treasurer, as ex-officio
members of the board, in most instances
serve the need for executive directors
and secretaries. In the lerger systems it
is important that these duties be pro
vided for by full-time paid employees,
appointed by and under the control of
the board. In all cases the services of
an actuary should be available to the
board ,either for periodic valuations or
as a continuing service. Provision for
independent auditing is necessary, and
for those systems offering disability
benefits, adequate provision for medi
cal examiners is essential. To a limited
extent the need for the services of
actuaries and auditors for individual
pension plans is now met through the
services being performed by the Depart
ment of Insurance in its periodic ex
aminations of the state pension funds.
Present Illinois legislation empowers
the Department of Insurance (taking
over this function from the former De
partment of Trade and Commerce) to
make an examination of Illinois public
pension funds and to report the results
of these examinations, along with rec
ommendations, to the General Assem
bly. This statute directs the department
to conduct a biennial examination of
the pension funds. Under present prac
tice the cost of this examination is
approximately $ 2 5 ,0 0 0 in addition to
the normal expenses of the Department
which cannot be allotted directly to
the examination. This cost is charged
against the individual pension funds
examined, and operates as a considerable
burden upon the smaller of the pension
systems. It is recommended by the De
partment of Insurance that provision
be made instead for a quadriennial ex
amination of the pension funds, and to
facilitate this, that the board of trus
tees or retirement board for each of
the pension systems be required to sub
mit statements of their finances and
statistics to the Department of In
surance.
Hamilton Motor Co.
Chevrolet Dealer
Forest Grove, Oregon
Kimball Brothers
Lumber Co.
Douglas F ir and Red Cedar
Lum ber
DEXTER
OREGON
Leighton’s Auto P art
& Machine Works
Wholesale and Retail
Phone 737
La Grande, Ore.