April
30, 2015
From
Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone:
860-841-8032
In 2014, the State paid its
employees
$5.94
BILLION DOLLARS (highest paid $2,792,871) and 49,616 retirees $1.62 BILLION
DOLLARS (highest paid $335,573).
Information detailed below and attached….
***************
America's
top labor union bosses raked in millions in 2014 ...
Jason Hart | Watchdog.org April 28, 2015
Union bosses known for bashing the rich are often
millionaires themselves, paid with dues taken from workers’ paychecks.
Laborers’ International Union of North America president Terry O’Sullivan, who
was paid $670,403 in 2014, slammed Charles and David Koch and other critics of
big government in a speech
last July. Continue reading at …. http://watchdog.org/212919/union-bosses-2014/
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CONNECTICUT
STATE BUDGET WATCH
BREAKING:
Read impact on car taxes
by Mary E.
O'Leary New Haven Register
Posted: Apr 29, 2015 10:02pm
***************
Track the
budget: Compare the spending and revenue proposals
Provided by CTMirror.org
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Connecticut, A
State in Crisis
Ø A State Legislative
Panel Voted to Impose $1.8 Billion in New Taxes;
Ø The Finance,
Revenue and Bonding Committee passed
a reform bill that boosts payments in lieu of taxes and revises the method of
taxing vehicles. There is a question as
to how this will impact property taxes within the 169 towns throughout Connecticut.
Ø CT was recently
labeled a “Sinkhole State” due to Connecticut’s high debt per capita as each
Connecticut taxpayer is liable for $48,100;
Ø CT Taxpayers pay
the 5th
highest property taxes in the nation;
Ø By 2014, the State
Employees’ Retirement System was
funded at 41.5 percent which means it has about $10.5 billion worth of
assets, enough to cover 41.5 percent of the $21 billion in liabilities. Experts
say an 80 percent funding level is considered healthy. CTNewsJunkie.com
Ø State Employee
Unions have won a Lawsuit which Could Cost Taxpayers over $100 million due to
former Republican Gov. John G. Rowland’s decision to lay off more than 2,000
unionized employees in 2003. We suggest if not appealed, this lawsuit
could set precedence for years to come giving unions even greater influence
over state budgets;
Ø State Employee
Pensions now exceed $300,000;
Ø State Employee
Wages now exceed $1 million with many earning over $200,000 with lucrative
healthcare benefits. (Research them below and refer to attached).
Ø As the Hartford
Courant reports Connecticut Keeps Close Eye On Its Super-Rich Residents fearing the loss of State and local tax dollars,
CTMirror.org recently announced that the State legislature’s tax-writing Panel will
consider plan to boost CT income taxes on the wealthy, retroactive to Jan.
1, to help close the large deficit in the next budget, according to sources.
Yet, No One has Addressed the Elephant in the Room
–
STATE MANDATES
–
Collective Bargaining,
Binding Arbitration and Prevailing Wage Laws!
These Mandates are the prime
drivers of State and Municipal taxes, financially enriching many public
employees to near millionaire status, as public sector employees gain greater
influence over the operations of government than those whom Connecticut voters elect to office.
Labor
unions take forced fees from 550,000 nonmembers
More than half a million workers were forced to pay labor
unions in 2014, U.S.
Department of Labor filings reveal. http://watchdog.org/214152/unions-forced-fees/?roi=echo3-26402552266-27447354-e6702595213e41be8e9869bcf7f7073e
Arbitration's
intolerable bind - The Boston Globe - Boston.com
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In Fiscal Year 2014, the State
paid its employees
in
wages and benefits a total of $5.94 BILLION DOLLARS.
Top Ten State Wages and Benefits in Fiscal
Year 2014 …
$2,792,871; $2,330,412; $1,364,339; $1,279,752; $1,027,743;
$1,017,657;
$1,000,492; $837,691; $791,318; 726,103!
To View a list of State Employee Compensation Paid in
2014
Click http://www.ctact.org\upload\home\STCOMP.htm
**************
In Calendar Year 2014, the
State paid 49,616 individuals
Pensions totaling in excess of $1.62 BILLION
DOLLARS.
Top Ten State Pensions Paid in Calendar
Year 2014…
$335,573; $290,355; $286,691; $278,167;
$254,096; $238,132; $236339; $222,367; $218,882; $216,797!
To View
an extended list
of State Pensions Paid in 2014
Click State
Employee Pensions
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Attached is a List of Pensions
as Obtained from
the
State Department of Education
Currently they are not included on the State’s
Transparency website.
We are requesting they be added.
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The
selling of a $100 million labor settlement
By: Mark Pazniokas | April 29, 2015 CTMirror.org
He’s struck a multi-million-dollar deal to
settle a protracted civil rights case by state employee unions against former
Gov. John G. Rowland. Now, all Attorney General George Jepsen
has to do is sell it to a cash-strapped legislature.
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THE STATE OF OUR STATE
State Democrats propose to
spend $514 million more
and
Shatter the Spending Cap
Appropriations budget may
finally spark a spending cap debate
By: Keith M. Phaneuf
| April 28, 2015 CTMirror.org
**************
CT was recently again labeled
a “Sinkhole State” among five with the
“highest
debt per taxpayer after available assets are tapped”.
Each Connecticut taxpayer is liable for $48,100.
Five States’ Slumping Financial Conditions Reflect
Widespread Pension Problems!
By Dannie Mahoney (dmahoney@truthinaccounting.org)
media relations manager for
Truth in Accounting this week
writes
**************
Connecticut Property Owners Pay the
Fifth
Highest Property Taxes in the Nation.
WALLETHUB just released their most recent report on “2015’s
States with the Highest and Lowest Property Taxes” to include the District of Columbia. With the highest taxed State ranked at 51, New Jersey takes the
lead. With the lowest taxed state ranked
at 1, Hawaii
is the winner. Connecticut is ranked in the top 5 highest
taxed states at 46.
As it relates to automobile/vehicle taxes, Rhode Island is ranked the highest at
51. Connecticut is ranked at 47. Many states charge no taxes on registered
vehicles and are therefore listed as 1.
They include Alaska, Delaware,
District of Columbia, Florida,
George, Hawaii,
Idaho, Illinois,
Louisiana, Maryland,
New Jersey, New Mexico,
New York, North Dakota,
Ohio, Oklahoma,
Oregon, Pennsylvania,
South Dakota, Tennessee,
Texas, and Vermont.
2015's Best & Worst States to be a Taxpayer | WalletHub®
**************
As the Hartford Courant reports Connecticut Keeps Close Eye On Its
Super-Rich Residents fearing the
loss of State and local tax dollars, CTMirror.org announces that the State
legislature’s tax-writing Panel will consider plan to boost CT income taxes on the
wealthy, retroactive to Jan. 1, to help close the
large deficit in the next budget, according to sources.
**************
In Jan 2014, we read
The Day
- 'A financial time bomb': State pension system is
...
one
of the country's most underfunded
Retired Connecticut state employees received the
highest annual pensions in the country in 2011, despite contributing less out
of their paychecks than the national average.
That meant the state's pension system was the second-most
underfunded in the United States,
in worse shape than every other state's except Illinois'. Connecticut would have to allocate
about $70 million in additional funds each year for 18 years to close the
funding gap in the major state employees' pension system, according to
actuarial estimates. And that wouldn't address the $11 billion gap in the
teachers' retirement system, which would need tens of millions of dollars more
every year during that same period. To demonstrate the size of the
problem: It would cost each man, woman and child in the state $12,157 to close
the $44 billion funding gap afflicting the state's two largest pension systems
and its two retiree health benefit programs. Since the mid-1990s, the state
rarely has met its required contribution, although it did so in 2013.
**************
National Business
Publication - Forbes - Puts a Spotlight on Connecticut !
How Did
Rich Connecticut Morph Into One Of America's Worst Performing Economies?
**************
Malloy has proposed Tolls to mitigate
Connecticut’s fiscal crisis,
On Feb 18, 2015, it was reported that
Ex-aide to Conn. governor reportedly hired by highway toll operator.
**************
By 2014, the State
Employees’ Retirement System was
funded at 41.5 percent which means it has about $10.5 billion worth of
assets, enough to cover 41.5 percent of the $21 billion in liabilities. Experts
say an 80 percent funding level is considered healthy.
CT News
Junkie | Funding Ratio Falls for State Employee ...
**************
In December, Governor Malloy bestowed millions of dollars in
Holiday Gifts
on his staff paid for by Connecticut
taxpayers
Malloy
spends millions on Raises for his Appointees
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The Governor and his staff knew of
Connecticut’s Fiscal Crisis months ago with the
Release Of the State’s latest
Fiscal
Accountability Report
The
report notes the following
The State’s long term debt
obligations total
SIXTY EIGHT ($68) BILLION
DOLLARS
As
the following chart illustrates, the majority of these costs
are
driven by State Retiree Costs, which you can check out
below
with many pensions well exceeding
$100,000
and as high as $250,000+
|
Connecticut's Unfunded Liabilities
|
$$$$ in
Billions
|
|
Debt Outstanding
|
21.3
|
|
State Employee Retirement System (SERS)
|
12.3
|
|
Teachers’ Retirement System
|
10.8
|
|
State Post Employment Health and Life
|
19.5
|
|
Teachers’ Post Employment Health
|
2.4
|
|
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Deficit
|
1.1
|
|
TOTAL
|
$68.4
Billion
|
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Projected state deficits
were report at
Fiscal
Year 2016 - $1.3 billion.
Fiscal
Year 2017 - $1.4 billion.
Fiscal
Year 2018 - $1.3 billion.
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BREAKING: Vallejo,
California Is on a Path Towards a Second Municipal Bankruptcy
(Robert Schussel / Vallejo Independent Bulletin)
Will Some Connecticut Towns
Find Themselves on a Similar Path?