The following appeared on the March 30, 2002 Commentary Page  of the Hartford Courant.  As of September, 2003, some government employees are retiring with pensions which exceed their base salaries.   

 

 

WHEN DID UNIONS TAKE OVER TOWN HALL?

By:  Susan Kniep, Vice President, FCTO

 

 

 

When elected officials fall asleep at the wheel of government driven engines fueled with taxpayer dollars, they risk crashing communities into a sea of debt!   A tidal wave of corruption and mismanagement overtook the taxpayers of Waterbury, where their budget of $258 million was left to sink or swim, pending a State take over.    When the storm settled, many victims were left with a 30% property tax increase.    A State commissioned study concluded that lucrative city employee benefits, which had increased 23% from 1997 to 2000, contributed to the city’s growing $60 million debt.  

 

With budgets throughout Connecticut municipalities averaging between 75% and 90% for personnel costs,  there is an ongoing  battle between taxpayers and public sector unions.     The spoils are the tax dollars of many hard working Connecticut residents who are elderly on fixed incomes or victims of the 624,411 national job cuts in 2001.  Some remain unemployed or are underemployed with no healthcare.  With taxpayers outnumbering union membership, one would think that the taxpayers would be in control of their municipal and state budgets.  Yet the opposite is true.  Reasons include weak elected officials who believe that their political future is based upon the power of the public sector unions, antiquated binding arbitration laws which defeat the effectiveness of public officials who do have a backbone, and some taxpayers who just don’t seem to get it, and are willing to remain silent, while their taxes increase to pay lucrative salaries, pensions and health care benefits for government workers, which they, themselves, will never experience in their lifetime.  

 

As nest eggs become infected with Enronitis, workers have been forced to take a closer look at their own pension plans.  In the private sector, many cannot afford to retire at age 65.   Yet, they are forced to pay high taxes to support some government employees who can retire after 25 years of service and collect lucrative pensions with full health benefits for themselves and their spouses. 

 

In several Connecticut towns, pensions for police personnel are determined by what they earned in three of their final five years on the job.  With overtime and private duty jobs factored in, there is a push to drive up their salaries.   In 2000, a Hartford Police officer whose annual salary was $52,758, earned with overtime, $109,067.  She is due to retire in 2 ½ years.     The top wage earner, who retired in February, took home $131,706.46, or $71,533.14 more than his base salary.

 

East Hartford’s lucrative pension plan allows police personnel, after 25 years of service, to collect two paychecks prior to full retirement.     Under the plan, police officers continue to work for up to five years.   They receive both their full pay and 96% of their pension, which is deposited into savings.     An employee currently in the plan made a total of $285,881 in his three highest paid years of employment.   His pension is calculated at $70,120.   At the end of five years, he will be given $336,576 (96% of $70,120 x 5), and begin collecting his full pension of $70,120. He will also receive a 2% annual cost of living increase after five years of retirement.  East Hartford taxpayers will be paying  between $500,000 to over $1 million annually toward police pension benefits, depending upon the actuarial assumption used.  With government unions not wanting to be outdone by their counterparts, this Plan may be showing up in contracts throughout Connecticut unless the taxpayer chooses to exercise some authority.

Last year, Connecticut taxpayers paid $297 million for State Employees healthcare and $155 Million for State retirees.   This year, state unions are threatening to tie up State government in court over a $100 million stock distribution from Anthem Health which they believe they are entitled to.  This money belongs to the taxpayers of our State who have paid the majority of these healthcare premiums.  

Government salaries, pensions and healthcare benefits are disproportionate to the private sector, where many are now unemployed.   Today, the greatest cost for American families is not their mortgage, their car payments, nor their child’s college education.  It is instead the money they send to their government which has imposed a tax on nearly every facet of their lives.   When taxpayers lose control over their taxes, they ultimately lose control over their freedom. 

 

 

Susan Kniep, Vice President, Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc. 

March 30,  2002