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STATE COMPTROLLER KEVIN LEMBO IS TO BE
COMMENDED FOR HIS DEDICATION TO TRANSPARENCY AND THE LAUNCHING OF
OpenPayroll.ct.gov
Mr. Lembo notes the following: This
site provides payroll information for state employees, including weekly pay
rates, annual salary rates overtime and other forms of pay. It also includes
total fringe costs for each employee (fringe includes health care and
retirement benefits paid by the state on behalf of employees, as well as
catch-up payments to pay down unfunded liabilities*). The site is updated
bi-weekly to reflect the typical state employee pay cycle and provide the most
current payroll data available. Additional data points, including certain
demographic information, are available in payroll data sets at data.ct.gov Read
More...
On December 10, 2016, Jon Lender of
The Hartford
Courant reported
State Police Rack Up OT; 70
Troopers, 47 Sergeants, Get At Least $50,000 Each Above Base Pay
For hundreds
of Connecticut
state police troopers and sergeants, their base salaries of $91,000 and
$101,000 are just a launching pad. They also rack up tens of thousands of
dollars in overtime payments, resulting in a total of $26.6 million spent in
overtime at the department this year.
In fact, 41
sergeants, six master sergeants, and 67 department members holding the rank of
trooper first class each have been paid more than $50,000 in overtime so far
this year. Three regular troopers, whose base pay is $61,000 to $65,000, also
have earned $50,000 in OT. Continue reading at
http://www.courant.com/breaking-news/hc-lender-police-pay-20161208-column.html
*************
TOP STATE RETIREE PENSIONS ARE
$297,614
$295,292; $258,720; $244,086;
$227,926; $224,354; $223,301;
$222,472; $216,021; $213,566; $208,036;
$204,850; $200,063!
************
According to the States Latest
Fiscal accountability report fiscal years 2017 to 2020-CT.gov
CONNECTICUTS STATE
DEBT HAS REACHED
$74.3 BILLION
AND IS DRIVEN BY STATE
RETIREE PENSIONS
AND HEALTHCARE COSTS!!!
DEBT: State Employee Retirement System (SERS)
$14.9 BILLION
DEBT: Teachers Retirement System $13.2 BILLION
DEBT: State Post Employment Health and Life $18.9
BILLION
DEBT: Teacher Post Employment Health and Life
$3.0 BILLION!!!
December 11, 2016
From:
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
CTMIRROR.ORG reports
About one-quarter of all Connecticut state
employees contribute nothing toward their pension benefit. Most others pay 2
percent, which is still well below the national average of 7 percent, as
Malloy, unions strike deal to stretch out spiking CT pension
costs
State Senator Len Fasano
called the plan the following
An
incomplete bailout of a pension system that is completely out of control. Simply
refinancing our debt is not the structural change we need to change the
direction of our state. This package will add billions of dollars in new costs
onto taxpayers beyond what is reflected in the governors
summary. It is not a solution, and taxpayers deserve better. Continue Reading →
STATE SENATOR FASSANO IS
CORRECT!!!!
TAXPAYERS DO DESERVE BETTER!
TAXPAYERS DESERVE OPEN DOOR
UNION CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS!!!!
For too long the door to Union Contract
Negotiations has been closed to the very same taxpayers who, regardless of
their ability to pay, are forced to finance the union contracts which were
negotiated behind closed door.
The secrecy which permeates this process
must end or there must be immediate and dramatic reforms to the two state
mandates which are driving our state over the Fiscal Cliff. Those mandates are
BINDING ARBITRATION AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING!
****************
TO VIEW ALL STATE PENSIONS
BEING PAID
Click on the Following Web link
Pensions
- Transparency Connecticut - CT.gov
Once on the website, click on
the word Search,
next
go to the column captioned
Total
and click on twice.
The Following is what you
will see for the Top Pensions Paid
$297,614;
$295,292; $258,720; $244,086; $227,926; $224,354; $223,301; $222,472; $216,021;
$213,566; $208,036; $204,850; $200,063; $196,979.
Continue at Pensions - Transparency Connecticut - CT.gov,
click
search, then total twice. To move from page to page,
go
to the top of the column captioned Total.
*************
THE RECENT PENSION DEAL WAS
NEGOTIATED IN SECRET.
13 STATE LABOR UNION CONTRACTS
EXPIRE IN 2016.
THEY TOO COULD BE NEGOTIATED
IN SECRET!!!!
You can view the contracts at
http://www.ct.gov/OPM/cwp/view.asp?a=2992&q=383228
ONE LABOR UNION CONTRACT HAS
ALREADY BEEN NEGOTIATED!!!
That contract carries an extra
multi-million dollar price tag of $28 million
and is further explained by CTNewsJunkie in their
article captioned State Trooper Contract Approved By
Appropriations; Raises Wages.
At least one state rep raises a very
relevant question-Can we Afford the $28 Million in
additional costs.
More specifically, State Rep Paul Formica,
R-East Lyme, said he appreciated the creative approach to spreading out the
raises but he wondered if the states ballooning budget deficit could sustain a
contract that increases costs $4.5 million the first year, $9.1 million the
second year, and $14.5 million the third year.
Read more at http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/state_trooper_contract_approved_by_appropriations_committee/
Now remember this is only one
State union contract!
There are 13 more yet to be
negotiated!
*************
As you can see, the majority of the States debt is due to
what taxpayers are forced to pay to support the legally binding contracts our
State legislators negotiated over the years with the State employee unions. And
in some cases, held hostage by the unions through their lawsuits to include the
$100 million we are now paying the State Public Sector Unions due to layoffs
imposed by Governor Rowland years ago.
And there are more lawsuits to come as defined by CTMirror.org
in their article captioned State employee unions suing to block group home privatization. The article notes-The Malloy administration plans to privatize 40 group homes, as well as
services for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, moves
aimed at saving the state nearly $70 million per year by next fiscal year. Read
more at
http://ctmirror.org/2016/10/13/state-employee-unions-take-legal-action-to-block-group-home-privatization/.
As
the website of Connecticuts SEIU Local 2001 |
Stronger Together boasts of the recent agreement they reached
with Governor Malloy, others are not so lucky as Texas SEIU files
for bankruptcy in wake of lawsuit judgment - Houston. Reporter L.M. Sixel writes the following-The Service Employees
International Union in Texas has filed for
bankruptcy protection, three months after a jury in Harris County
slapped it with a $5.3 million judgment. Professional Janitorial Service
successfully sued the union, alleging that its aggressive organizing campaign
went too far and maligned the commercial cleaning companys
reputation. Brent Southwell, Professional Janitorial
CEO, said he is not deterred by the bankruptcy filing. Continue reading at http://www.chron.com/business/article/SEIU-files-for-bankruptcy-in-wake-of-lawsuit-10692546.php.
HERE IS A THREE YEAR COMPARISON OF THE IMPACT OF CONNECTICUTS LUCRATIVE PENSION AND HEALTHCARE RETIREE
BENEFITS AND THEIR IMPACT ON CONNECTICUTS
DEBT CRISIS
|
|
|
|
|
Unfunded
Liabilities
|
Nov. 2014
|
Nov. 2015
|
Nov. 2016
|
Debt
Outstanding
|
$21.3
|
$22.8
|
$23.5
|
State Employee
Retirement System (SERS)
|
13.3
|
14.9
|
14.9
|
Teachers Retirement
System
|
10.8
|
10.8
|
13.2
|
State Post
Employment Health and Life
|
19.5
|
19.5
|
18.9
|
Teachers Post
Employment Health
|
2.4
|
2.4
|
3.0
|
Generally
Accepted Accounting Principles Deficit
|
1.1
|
0.7
|
0.8
|
TOTAL
|
$68.4 BILLION
|
$71.1 BILLION
|
74.3 BILLION
|