Taxpayers: What are you paying for State Employee
Pensions? Click on the headline below – Not only will you see some State
employees are receiving six figure pensions over $100,000, $150,000, and
$200,000 but you will get a glimpse of lifetime pensions as well……
Connecticut state retirees' pensions data - The Day
of New London
Per the Day: The data
was obtained from the Office of the State Comptroller through the Connecticut Freedom of
Information Act. It lists all retirees
as of calendar year 2012 in the Connecticut
State Employee Retirement System, the Connecticut Probate
Judges and Employees Retirement System and the State’s Attorneys’ Retirement
System.
The Day also provides Lifetime Pension Estimates. Just Type in the Last Name and First Name of the State
Retiree.
WHO IS GETTING A PENSION FROM THE STATE – check out Pension Payments - Connecticut Transparency Website, go to Range, type in 1, then Search, then twice click,
Total Pension Paid. You should then be
able to view the pensions being paid to each retiree from the highest on down….
Questions –write fctopresident@aol.com.
See below for much more info from the Day!
Great Newspaper! Great Info!
Thank you to the publisher and staff at the TheDay.com | New London and southeastern Connecticut News ... !!!
************************
Union Power at Risk
In June 2013 the headlines read Unions Target Home
Workers - WSJ.com noting “In Connecticut, Democrats
have passed measures enabling unions to represent the workers.” Today we learn, in the article by the Hill
captioned Case could destroy
pillar of union power that “Labor unions are at risk of having one
of their most successful organizing tactics nullified by the Supreme Court. On
Tuesday, the high court will hear oral arguments in Harris V. Quinn, a case
that could upend agreements with state governments that allow taxpayer-funded
home-care workers to unionize. Continue reading at ….. http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/195867-supreme-court-case-threatens-to-destroy-pillar-of
************************
State
Is Broke — 'Surplus' Is Pocket Change
By MARCIA MARIEN | OP-ED ,
Marcia Marien, CPA, is past president of the Connecticut Society of
Certified Public Accountants.
The Hartford
Courant, Jan
17, 2014
Connecticut is broke. Not going broke,
but broke right now. Today.
In nearly every financial comparison of the nation, Connecticut ranks among
the worst in fiscal health, if not dead last, the result of decades of poor,
short-sighted financial decisions and politicians not wanting to make the tough
decisions or not understanding the total picture.
We can't let this continue. We can't pass this burden on to
our grandchildren … and their children.
On Tuesday, after three years of work, the State Budget
Crisis Task Force, co-chaired by former Federal Reserve
Chairman Paul Volker and former New
York State
Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch, released its final report of
recommendations for fiscal responsibility in budgeting. (Available at http://www.statebudgetcrisis.org)
Continue reading at …… http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/hc-op-marien-connecticut-is-broke-0119-20140117,0,5423195.story
January 21, 2014
From: The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer
Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
TAXPAYERS: VOTE NOVEMBER 4, 2014 FOR THE STATE LEGISLATOR
OF YOUR CHOICE
BUT FIRST ASK THE
CANDIDATE:
YOU WORKING FOR
ME OR THEM,
THE PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYEES?
IT’S A FAIR
QUESTION! GET AN ANSWER!
We are fortunate to
have many dedicated, hard working State and local public employees. But when management locks taxpayers into
legally binding contracts which have exceeded the taxpayers’ ability to pay for
those contracts, while many in the private sector are unemployed, underemployed
or on fixed incomes, Connecticut public officials need a wake up call. After all it is our money our Public
Officials are Gambling with! The money paying for every public employee wage
increase, healthcare and pension benefit which Governor Malloy, our State
Legislators, Mayors, Town Managers and Local Legislative bodies agree to comes
directly out of the pockets of State and Local Homeowners and Businesses who
are now TAXED TO THE MAX!
The State in the Worst Fiscal Condition In America
is ... NEW JERSEY, Next is CONNECTICUT!
The News: A study on U.S. states' fiscal conditions released earlier
this week by Mercatus Center at George Mason University ranked
New Jersey
dead last, citing citing revenue shortfalls, budget practices and high
levels of debt. California, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Connecticut
rounded out the rest of the bottom five. On the
brighter side, Wyoming, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Alaska took
the top five….. Background: The researchers
looked at 11 indicators of financial health and stability: cash ratio,
quick ratio, current ratio, operating ratio, surplus (deficit) per capita,
net asset ratio, long-term liability ratio, long-term liability per
capita, tax per capita, revenue per capita and expenses per capita. To get a better sense of the
situation in general, these 11 were then grouped into four larger categories:
cash solvency, budget solvency, long-run solvency and service-level solvency. Continue reading
at ….. http://www.policymic.com/articles/79403/the-state-in-the-worst-fiscal-condition-in-america-is
****************************
Check out Connecticut at
In State Fiscal Condition - Mercatus
Center – Working Paper
http://mercatus.org/sites/default/files/Arnett_StateFiscalCondition_v1.pdf
Table 5. Ranking of States
by Cash Solvency (Fiscal Year 2012), Page 34, Cash Index: Connecticut Ranks 48 Out of 50 States at
-2.57
Table 6. Ranking of States
by Budget Solvency (Fiscal Year 2012), Page 35, Budget Index: Connecticut Ranks 41 out of 50 States at
-1.24
Table 7. Ranking of States
by Long-Run Solvency (Fiscal Year 2012), Page 36, Long- Run Index: Connecticut Ranks 48 out
of 50 at -3.80
Table 8. Ranking of States
by Service-Level Solvency (Fiscal Year 2012), Page 37, Service-Level Index: Connecticut Ranks 45 out
of 50 at -3.90
Table
9. Ranking of States by Fiscal Condition
(Fiscal Year 2012),
Page 38, Fiscal Condition
Index:
Connecticut Ranks 49 out of 50 at -2.48,
New Jersey
Ranks 50 at -2.81
The
fiscal condition index is the sum of the cash, budget, long-run, and
service-level solvency indices weighted as follows: (0.35 × cash solvency
score) + (0.35 × budget solvency score) + (0.2 × long-run solvency score) +
(0.1 × service - level solvency score)
****************************
Thank
you to the Day of New London
Newspaper
for
The Excellent
Special Report: CT Pension Project
Connecticut’s pension system
is one of the most underfunded in the country. In this series, The Day examined
the state’s $44 billion funding gap and projected future costs. The
investigation into the state pension system included working with Visible
Government Online Inc., an information technology and services company in
Brunswick, Maine, to create a searchable database and interactive graphics.
Read the stories and explore the data.
Average Connecticut teacher retires with $47,000 pension
January 14, 2014; Updated: 12:47 am
The state is liable for a $25 billion pension system for
public school teachers that is funded at only 55
percent of its obligations. The Day's analysis showed that 88.9 percent of
retired teachers received more than $24,000 in pension payments in 2012, with
the average pension being $47,386. Connecticut's
public school teachers contribute a smaller percentage of their salaries toward
their pensions than the national average.
Pension changes debate: How much, how soon?
January 13, 2014; Updated: 12:17 am
While Democrats under the leadership of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy may have begun to repair the state's
broken pension system, their Republican critics say the party in power remains
unwilling in this election year to take the tough actions necessary to truly
fix the problem.
'A financial time bomb': State pension system is one of the country's most underfunded
January 12, 2014; Updated: 12:31 am
Connecticut's pension system
is one of the most underfunded in the country. In an ongoing series, The Day
examines the state's $44 billion funding gap and projected future costs.
Six-figure salary and a buyout create quite a pension
January 12, 2014; Updated: 2:52 pm
The largest annual pension for a Connecticut
state retireee goes to John F. Veiga
of Coventry,
who retired in 2009 after 38 years of teaching business at UConn.
During those decades he contributed $222,128 to his pension. Now 70, he
collects about $276,364 a year, the largest state pension paid in 2012 and
nearly nine times the average state employee pension of $31,666.
Legacy of pension neglect tough to reverse
This is the first of two editorials on consecutive days
concerning the underfunded state employees' pension system and the steps
necessary to repair it.
****************************
On July 9,
2012 Marcia Marien wrote Connecticut must face true pension
liabilities - Hartford Courant
noting …. If we look at Connecticut's
audited financial statements from June 30, 2011, we see that the net pension
promises after subtracting the cash that has been
set aside (unfunded actuarially accrued liability) is $20.9 billion. This is
only reported as a footnote to the financial statements. It is not reported on
the balance sheet as a liability.
If we look
at what is actually reported on the balance sheet, we see a liability of $2.4
billion. We are only reporting $2.4 billion of our actual $20.9 billion pension
shortfall on our balance sheet. We are not reporting $18.5 billion of our
pension liabilities. The new accounting rules would correct this and cause us
to report the real and larger liability on our balance sheet.
We, the
6,000 certified public accountants who are members of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public
Accountants, are concerned about the financial health of the state and our lender’s long-term
plans for addressing and correcting it. http://articles.courant.com/2012-07-09/news/hc-op-marien-connecticut-must-count-all-liabilitie-20120709_1_pension-liability-balance-sheet-financial-statements
******************
Check Out What is Happening
in Other Parts of the Country
Looming pension payment could drive
city taxes to highest in US
By Paul Merrion January
20, 2014 Crain's Chicago
Business
A Crain's
analysis of the city's tax and budget options shows that payment could lead to
the highest commercial property tax
rate in the nation and still ...
It's possible that Chicken Little was right.
Next year, Chicago must come up with
a state-mandated $590 million increase in its contribution to police and fire
pension funds. A Crain's analysis of the city's
tax and budget options shows that payment could lead to the highest commercial
property tax rate in the nation and still leave the city needing to make
millions of dollars in spending cuts that could decimate many services.
****************************
Connecticut Now Pays Pensions as High as $276,000!!!!
In Calendar Year 2012, the State of Connecticut paid 44,216 Retirees pensions totaling
$1.4 BILLION!!! The following link illustrates those who received from
$50,000 to the highest pension at $276,364.
Click to View…… http://www.ctact.org\upload\home\StatePensionFinalFinal.xls
To learn more about State of CT Employee Pensions
click http://transparency.ct.gov/html/searchPensions.asp.
****************************
Connecticut Now Pays Salaries as High as
$2.9 Million!!!!
In Fiscal Year 2013, the State of Connecticut paid 94,919 Salaries
Totaling $5.6 BILLION!!!
The following link illustrates those who
received from $250,000 to $2.9 Million.
Click to View…… http://www.ctact.org\upload\home\2013Salaries.xls
To learn more about State of CT Employee Salaries and Benefits
Click to View… http://transparency.ct.gov/html/searchPayroll.asp
****************************
More Than $7B A Year In Tax Exemptions, Expenditures, &
Credits
by Christine
Stuart | January 7, 2014 5:30am
CTNewsJunkie.com
Every other year, the Office of Fiscal Analysis compiles a
list of tax exemptions, expenditures, deductions, or credits that result in
less tax revenue to the state. The 218-page report is given to state
lawmakers.
Every other year, the Office of Fiscal Analysis compiles a
list of tax exemptions, expenditures, deductions, or credits that result in
less tax revenue to the state. The 218-page report is given to state
lawmakers.
In OFA’s most recent report, it says that for a variety of
reasons the state decides not to collect more than $7 billion a year in taxes
from its residents and businesses.
Some are small, such as a tax exemption on dues paid to lawn
bowling clubs. That exemption costs the state about $400,000 a year in revenue.
The exemption benefits fewer than 300 people. It was implemented as part of the
tax package passed by the legislature in 1999.
Then there are some of the bigger items, like the property
tax credit. The credit applies to single filers with incomes below $146,500 and
married filers with combined incomes below $190,500. The $300 property tax
credit benefits about 896,000 taxpayers and it will cost the state $213.1
million in 2014 and $214.3 million in 2015.
****************************
****************************