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Please note that if you have received a copy of future email publication, please write to fctopresident@aol.com .  

 

 

Breaking News from the New York Post 

 

 

Paul Manafort gets less than 4 years for tax and bank fraud

 

 

 

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Four years ago, headline read  It Is Still 'Corrupticut' - Hartford Courant.   Therein, they note the following: The U.S. attorney's office, the FBI and four other federal agencies are forming the Connecticut Public Corruption Task Force to root out all those who use their public position for private gain. The corruption tip hotline, 1-800-CALL-FBI, operates 24/7. 

 

Voters and taxpayers in our state might wonder why the Feds are rooting out corruption in Connecticut as opposed to our own State officials and their staff.  The answer is simple.  They cant.  Connecticut legislators, who are on the ballot this November, have for years refused to provide the necessary tools to drain Connecticuts swamp.  As such, the Feds must do it for us.

 

And over the years the Feds have done an exemplary job in putting the bad guys behind bars as the title CORRUPTICUT was bestowed on our State.  Last month, in February, we learned that the Feds are back as highlighted within the articles by Connecticut Post captioned….

 

Feds issue subpoenas in Bridgeport scrap metal probe

Companies in Bridgeport FBI probe not transparent on city website.

 

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PENSION TENSION

 

In 2018, State of Connecticut Pension Payments Totaling over $1.9 Billion were made Representing 48,964 Retired Employees.  The top five pensions paid were $322,674; $322,386; $320,497; $262,854; and $245,451.

 

 

CONNECTICUT STATE OFFICIALS

 

HAVE A MONEY PROBLEM! 

 

AND THEY WANT YOU TO SOLVE IT!

 

 

 

 

March 7, 2019

   

From:  The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayers

Contact:  Susan Kniep, President

Website: http://ctact.org/

Email: fctopresident@aol.com

Telephone: 860-841-8032

 

 

 

On December 14, 2018 headlines read Connecticut Wants You to View Your Neighbors Pension. Heres Why (Lucas Laursen / Fortune)

 

The following is an excerpt:  Wednesday the states financial controller Kevin P. Lembo launched Open Pensions, a website where the public can consult the states $2 billion in annual pension payments. You can also find data covering 2010 to 2017 at Transparency Connecticut where the following is noted: In 2018, pension payments totaling over $1.9 Billion were made representing 48,964 retired employees.

 

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If you are not familiar with either website, you might consider starting with Transparency Connecticut. Once on the website, click on the word Search. Then go the column headed Total. Click Total twice.  This will take you to the top 25 pensions paid.   You can then move on to the next page by clicking the arrow over the heading Total.  The following are the Top 25 State Employee Pensions

 

 

Top 25 State Employee Pensions

BLECHNER, JACK N

 $        322,674.24

ZAKARIA, BILAL A

 $        322,386.06

VEIGA, JOHN F

 $        320,497.80

BLANCHETTE, EDWARD A

 $        262,854.18

HARTLEY, HARRY J

 $        245,451.90

SIGMAN, EUGENE

 $        244,007.16

DIBENEDETTO, ANTHONY T

 $        243,101.82

JUDD, RICHARD L

 $        241,605.06

THORNER, JOYCE C

 $        240,885.60

MORIN, LORI

 $        237,673.46

RAYE, JOHN R

 $        232,631.46

CUTLER, LESLIE S

 $        229,987.98

ANDERSON, GREGORY J

 $        216,725.28

SURAPANENI, BUJJI B

 $        213,129.60

RENZULLI, JOSEPH S

 $        211,076.34

HERZOG, MARC S

 $        200,176.74

KOCHANEK, RICHARD F

 $        198,142.44

GOYAL, RAMA

 $        198,041.70

KURLANTZICK, LEWIS S

 $        197,118.48

JOHNSTON, KEVIN P

 $        192,573.72

CAVANAGH, LESLIE K

 $        191,090.00

PANOOR, LEELA A

 $        189,151.08

KAY, RICHARD S

 $        189,065.46

GOLDSCHNEIDER, IRVING

 $        186,973.80

MACGILL, HUGH C

 $        186,365.94

 

 

 

 

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On Feb 19, 2019 The Connecticut Mirror published an article captioned Lamont seeks giveback from future state retirees noting the Governor also to ask towns to pay portion of teacher pension costs.  

 

 

We then learned as reported by CTMirror.org and published by the Connecticut Post

Lamont seeks pension givebacks; unions say no

 

Obviously, some of these pensions are far better than winning the lottery. Because like the energizer bunny these pensions keep on giving and giving, year after year, and you keep paying year after year.  But to be fair, not every State retiree is getting rich as you will see as you continue your pension review. 

So how bad is Connecticuts pension problem?

How much do Connecticut taxpayers owe toward these state pensions, many of which the average private sector worker could never hope to obtain for themselves but will have to pay for others? Read on

 

Connecticut Confronts an Underfunded Pension Liability of as Much as $100 Billion (Ken Dixon / New Haven Register

Well, obviously the above headline lends some insight into how dire the problem is as explained by State Treasurer Shawn Wooden, a Democrat, who was elected in November.

The following are excerpts: The State Teachers Retirement Fund, in particular, could face a multibillion-dollar shortfall within the next few years if the current billion-dollar deficit is allowed to keep snowballing. Wooden will suggest that Lamont extend the period that the state pays off pension-related bonds, while leveling off payments that are currently on track to balloon to $2 billion to $3 billion a year over the next four years in the teachers fund alone.

Continue reading at https://www.nhregister.com/politics/article/State-treasurer-will-recommend-pension-changes-13588659.php

 

It is interesting to note that Wooden is a lawyer and former president of the Hartford City Council.

 

On Oct 24, 2018, Chris Powell of the Journal Inquirer wrote

 

Why nothing in Connecticut ever changes; and Wooden's Denial.

 

The following is an excerpt: If he is elected state treasurer, someone may explain to the Democratic nominee, former Hartford City Council President Shawn Wooden, that money is fungible -- that is, interchangeable. A dollar for X is as good as a dollar for Y or Z when the bottom line is the same.

 

But apparently not understanding this, the other day Wooden denied this column's observation that state government's $550 million bailout of Hartford's bonded debt in effect paid for the city's new $80 million minor-league baseball stadium and many other things the city borrowed money for. Continue reading at https://www.journalinquirer.com/public/why-nothing-in-connecticut-ever-changes-and-wooden-s-daffy/article_188d474a-d789-11e8-9f73-4bc038248ba8.html

 

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The responsibility for paying off these pensions will be no small task for many Connecticut taxpayers who work in the private sector and could never imagine receiving some of the lucrative pensions they will be forced to finance.

 

As Governor Lamont is confronted with a $3.7 billion deficit in his first biennial budget and a $35.5 billion pension liability, he has proposed paying off the $14 billion owed to the teachers pension plan over 30 years instead of 12 years. 

 

For his plan to succeed, local property owners could be placed at risk.  The end result of forcing towns to pick up all or some of the cost of $73 million for teacher pensions over the next two years as he has proposed could have a ripple effect.  Honest, law abiding, local property owners could be taxed out of their homes through increased property taxes.  The end result could mean tax lien sales of their homes if they cannot afford a property tax increase.   

 

The following are excerpts from Brian Chappattas February 25, 2019 article captioned

 

Three New Governors Face Three Old Pension Disasters

 

as it appeared in Bloomberg News.   Therein he writes: As far as the fiscal health of U.S. states is concerned, there is Connecticut, Illinois and New Jersey, and then there is the rest of the country. Each state has chronically underfunded pension plans, so much so that they have less than 50 percent of assets needed to meet future liabilities. They are the only states with unanimous general-obligation bond grades below double-A from the three biggest credit-rating companies. They pay noticeably more to borrow than their neighbors. Connecticut and Illinois were among the few states to experience a net population decline in the year through July 2018, Census data show. Continue reading at https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-02-25/three-new-governors-face-three-old-pension-disasters

 

 

One year ago, in February 2018 we learned from State Rep Gail Lavielle of the 143rd General Assembly District that The biggest concessions in state union agreement came from taxpayers.

She noted that

 

Among the union concessions: a two-year wage freeze, increased contributions to pensions and healthcare plans, and three furlough days, and for new hires, introduction of a hybrid defined benefit/defined contribution pension plan.

 

The taxpayer concessions: no layoffs for four years until July 2021; a one-time bonus payment in 2020 for each employee; guaranteed 3.5 percent raises and step increases in both 2021 and 2022; and an extension of the current pension and healthcare benefits contract from 2022 until 2027, locking in for ten years benefits that are still among the most, if not the most, expensive in the country.

 

What do these benefits include? A defined-benefit pension plan, something most private sector employees have not seen in decades. Inclusion of overtime in annual salary for calculating pensions. Longevity bonuses. Employee contributions to pension plans that have until now ranged from 0 to 2 percent, and will still be well below those required for Connecticut teachers and municipal workers. Health insurance contributions and co-pays lower even than those paid by federal employees. Higher education tuition for family members. Paid time on the clock for union officials to spend doing union work.

 

The contract extension prevents future legislators and governors from reducing the costs of public sector benefits, which remain among the highest in the country, for 10 years.The no-layoff provision and related conditions limit the states ability to cut government costs by consolidating departments or shifting services to the private sector.The $1.5 billion in near-term savings, most of which are one-shot, leaves a $3.6 billion deficit on the table, to be closed by tax increases and service reductions. Continue reading at https://ctviewpoints.org/2017/08/07/opinion-gail-lavielle/

 

On Feb 25, 2019 the Hartford Courant reported  Rep. Rojas suggests municipalities that oppose tolls should lose state aid.  A very disappointing statement by a State Legislator who should be protecting all taxpayers, to include his constituents in East Hartford, a town designated by the State as a Distressed Municipality.  This week we learned that some homeowners in East Hartford could lose their homes to tax lien sales, as they were literally taxed out of their homes.   East Hartford’s mill rate is among the top 10 in the State. Click the following to learn your town‘s Mill Rates - portal.ct.gov.