Study: Former District 300 Employee Among Top Illinois Pensioners

A former District 300 employee made the Taxpayers United of America list of top 200 pensioners in Illinois, according to the study that was released last week. 

Norman R. Wetzel, who retired from District 300 at the age of 55, receives an annual pension of $233,370. To date, Wetzel has collected $2,069,292 in total pension. He is expected to receive $7.9 million in estimated pension payout, according to the study. 

In Illinois, six-figure pensions grew by 47 percent in one year to 9,900, said TUA president Jim Tobin in the press release. The top 200 pensions are all over $189,000 per year, according to the study. 

“The purpose of our study is to put some perspective around individual pensions, to put them in terms to which the average taxpayer can relate," Tobin said in the news release. "Illinois taxpayers, whose average household income is $53,234, and struggle with 9.3% unemployment need to know how much Illinois’ government retirees are being paid not to work and the astronomical accumulation of those payments over an average lifetime.”

Tapas Das Gupta, retired from the University of Illinois at Chicago, collected $439,672 in his last annual pension payment and will accumulate $5.2 million in lifetime pension payments. 

Beverly Lopatka retired from DuPage Government High School District 88 receives an annual pension of $399,652, and should receive a lifetime payout of $11,524,643. Larry K. Fleming, retired from government school district Lincolnshire-Prairie View 103, is estimated to receive the highest lifetime payout of $11,868,155. 

TUA call from sweeping reform in the pension system in Illinois. TUA estimates over 25,000 six-figure pensioners by 2020 if changes are not made, according to the TUA news release. 

The full TUA list can be found on the organization's website. 

• Illinois Government Employee Pensions Top 200