SPRINGFIELD - School districts statewide may have to pick up $149 million in extra pension costs under Gov. Rod Blagojevich's proposed reforms.

Jon Bauman, executive director for the state's Teacher Retirement System, warned the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability on Wednesday that Blagojevich's proposal could pass on costs to local school districts.

"I think there is a very real possibility that we are going to have employers tell us that (they) cannot afford to pay for that," Bauman said.

If the money isn't available, Bauman said he would have to go the comptroller's office and have the district's general state aid payments diminished.

Under the governor's proposal, pay increases over 3 percent must be picked up by the local district. Currently, the state picks up all these costs. These pay increases usually come in an educator's final years before retirement.

Becky Carroll, spokeswoman for the Governor's Office of Management and Budget, said the retirement system assumes that local districts will not change.

"(The retirement system) is diverting attention away from the fact that the state is in desperate need of pension reform," she said.

Currently, school districts can increase end-of-career payments by 20 percent every year for four years in a row, Carroll said.

Baumann estimates 82 percent of union agreements reached with school districts include these incentives.

State Rep. Robert Molaro, D-Chicago, who also chaired the governor's pension review committee, said the administration is trying to stop teachers from getting big pay increases before retirement.

"You can't inflate your salary for pension purposes only," Molaro said. "You want to be coach, if you want to be an administrator, God bless you. If you take on extra duties you are entitled to your raise."

These end-of-career payouts are often part of contract negotiations, said Dave Comerford, an Illinois Federation of Teacher's spokesman, who noted that a bargaining unit may decide to forgo pay increases to get more money for pensions.

"They've given up things to get this," he said. "It is not all just this magically granted benefit."

Matt Adrian can be reached at matt.adrian@;lee.net or 789-0865.