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Board to seek proposals after receiving $98,000 bill for firefighter retirement program
Summary
At a Feb. 2 work session trustees discussed the village's firefighter retirement program administration (currently with Hometown Services), noted a recent $98,000 invoice for 2025, and agreed to gather written proposals and documentation — including inviting Hometown Services and a potential vendor, Firefly, to present.
A board member identified in the transcript as Speaker 2 told the board of trustees at its Feb. 2 work session that the village currently uses Hometown Services to administer the firefighters' retirement/length-of-service program and that she would gather proposals and documentation from both Hometown and other vendors, including a firm named Firefly.
The discussion centered on recent billing and how the vendor calculates annual contributions. Speaker 1 said Hometown has historically proposed annual contribution amounts in the $60,000–$80,000 range, with some years as low as about $40,000 and others approaching $100,000; the village has sometimes paid less than the vendor's requested amount and planned to "catch up" later when needed. "They came up with the numbers. It's been traditionally around 60 to $80,000 a year," Speaker 1 said.
Speaker 2 said the village had just received a bill for calendar year 2025 of about $92,000 plus approximately $6,000 in administrative fees, which she summarized as a $98,000 total. "So that bill technically is $92,000 for the actual area plus $6,000 for the industry, a total of 98,000," she said. Speaker 2 also noted an additional administrative expense of roughly $6,000 and asked for a specific written proposal from the consultant. She described an initial verbal cost estimate for additional review services as "thousand to $2,000," language that was not precise in the transcript.
Trustees raised questions about applicable state rules and changes to the plan since its original adoption in 1990, including post-retirement payment rules referenced in the meeting. Speaker 1 said it would be helpful to consolidate current rules so both the department and trustees can review them. "It would be nice to have everything under one roof to see," Speaker 1 said.
No motion or vote was recorded on the topic at the work session. Speaker 2 said she would continue to work with staff, request written proposals and updated reports from Hometown Services, and invite other vendors to present comparative proposals to the board.
Next steps: Trustees asked staff to collect the documentation and vendor proposals referenced at the session and return with a written recommendation; the transcript records no formal action or vote.
