February
1, 2016
From:
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
Part Two –
Connecticut’s Ship of State
is Sinking
Under the Weight of High Debt
and
Deficits of $71 Billion
Driven by
State Retiree Pensions and
Healthcare!
Steven Malanga is the senior
editor of City Journal and the author of Shakedown: The Continuing Conspiracy Against
the American Taxpayer.
Malanga notes the following in his recent article
captioned
Nutmegged in Connecticut by Steven Malanga,
City Journal .
Connecticut governor Dannel Malloy
won reelection last year with 51 percent of the vote, but a new poll puts his approval rating at a meager
32 percent. Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed gave the governor a
negative grade for his handling of the state budget, taxes, and the economy.
Only 4 percent said that they were very satisfied with the direction of the Nutmeg State.
No wonder. Just weeks after officials vigorously defended plans to pay off the
state pension system’s enormous debt, Malloy proposed a new plan—pushing
billions of dollars of payments well into the future. The new proposal is an
admission that Malloy has yet to grab control of Connecticut’s precarious finances even after
imposing massive new taxes that have businesses threatening to exit the state. Read this excellent article in its entirety
at …. http://www.city-journal.org/2015/eon1103sm.html
The negative Impact of Connecticut’s Public
Sector Union Contracts on State and local
finances, operations, and the taxpayers forced to finance them is highlighted
within the following news articles and editorial which, when read, you will
experience an I CAN’T BELIEVE IT moment.
What has transpired to date should be impetus of a rallying cry among
Connecticut’s Governor, Democrat controlled state legislature, businesses, and all Connecticut taxpayers to reform or
eliminate State of Connecticut Binding Arbitration and Collective Bargaining
Laws while also calling for the dismissal of those responsible for giving a
promotion to a state employee “while he was in jail at the Hartford
Correctional Center.”
CTMirror.org is reporting CSCU, union still at odds with arbitration
deadline near noting that “With a March 1 arbitration deadline looming
and negotiations still tense, the professors union of the state’s largest
public college system remains concerned about proposals that could threaten to
eliminate tenure and move faculty to different universities”.
This comes on the heels of a report in which Auditors find shortcoming in regents’ central office, noting "In absence of proper monitoring, duplicate
payments and conflicts of interest may go undetected," state auditors John
Geragosian and Robert Ward found in a 23-page evaluation of the system office of fiscal 2012 and
2013.
But what is most disturbing is the power of public sector
unions and union contracts when we learned from CTMirror.org in December, 2015 that,
As professor racks up convictions, CSCU unable to consider
... them in employment decisions
CTMirror.org
reported “Last year, the Board of Regents for Higher Education gave Shankar a promotion to full professor while he was in jail at the Hartford
Correctional Center – a move that helped boost his annual salary from
$83,200 to $96,900. “That was the fifth time Shankar had been locked
up – in connection with two convictions – in 15 months. “Shankar has been convicted of offenses that include driving
under the influence, giving a police officer someone else's license after
getting into a collision and providing a false statement to authorities in
a credit card fraud scheme”……. “Facing scrutiny,
the public system's governing board considered rescinding
Shankar's promotion but backed off when it became clear that the Code
of Conduct in the current labor contract with the
union that represents faculty does not provide for consideration of a criminal
record for incidents that take place off campus”.
In defense of some state legislators, the then Chairman of
the Board of Regent, CSCU President Gregory Gray, did come under scrutiny in
July, 2015 after two Democrat State legislators who were chairwomen of the
legislature's higher education committee, namely Rep. Roberta Willis,
D-Salisbury, and Sen. Dante Bartolomeo, D-Meriden,
expressed their concerns regarding renewing Gray’s contract in July, 2015. However, it appears their concerns fell on
deaf ears as the Hartford
Courant article of July 16, 2015 read Chairman: Regents Won't Fire President Gregory Gray ....
.
Less than 30 days later, in August, 2015, CTMirror.org
reported Gregory Gray resigns as president of Connecticut college ...system
At the time of Grey’s resignation, the Journal Inquirer of
Manchester published an article captioned
College chief's resignation came amid probe targeting son's
...investment schemes noting “Gregory W. Gray’s abrupt announcement Friday that he
would resign as president of Connecticut’s largest public college system came
as federal prosecutors were accusing his son of committing securities fraud,
wire fraud, and perjury”.
But this is not the first controversial issue which has
plagued Connecticut’s
Board of Regents. In October, 2012 we
learned of another resignation in the headlined article captioned Embattled Board of Regents chief resigns | The CT Mirror
noting “Robert A. Kennedy, the embattled
president of the Board of Regents for Higher Education, announced
his resignation Friday morning, effective immediately. “Kennedy, who was recruited last year by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to
lead the new consolidation of the higher education
system, bowed to mounting pressure for his resignation after disclosures he unilaterally approved executive pay raises
without board approval”.
Now let’s look at what taxpayers paid those under the auspices of the
Board of Regents in Fiscal Year 2015. First, take a trip to the State of
Connecticut’s website Transparency Connecticut - Employee Compensation. Then click on
Advanced Search. Then go to Agency and
scroll down to Board of Regents. Next, click Search.
Then go over to Total and click
twice. This will take you to the highest
to the lowest paid. The Top 10 are …..
|
Name
|
Total $
|
|
Nunez,Elsa M.
|
456,149.23
|
|
Gray,Gregory W
|
454,213.23
|
|
Papazian,Mary A.
|
418,202.27
|
|
Schmotter,James W.
|
408,866.88
|
|
Miller,John W.
|
403,607.22
|
|
Dickenman Jr,Howard B.
|
351,421.09
|
|
Blake,James E.
|
334,908.83
|
|
Levinson,David L.
|
310,275.45
|
|
Bergeron,Bette S.
|
288,178.18
|
|
Crone,Kimberly M.
|
277,200.08
|
In summary, we are paying 13,503 salaries and benefits for a
total cost of $768,165,908 for those
employees under the Board of Regents.
In May, 2015, Jon Lender of the Hartford Courant reported Panel Endorses $100M Settlement Of Rowland Layoff Lawsuit. On January 10, 2016,
Jon Lender reported
State Begins Paying $100M Tab For Rowland Layoffs, Including
Estimated $15M to Law Firm
Lender reports…..
About $2 million in compensatory damage payments went out
starting Nov. 1 to more than 27,000 current or former government employees
under a court-approved agreement last October with the State Employees
Bargaining Agent Coalition, the attorney general's office said Friday. Read entire article at ….
http://www.courant.com/politics/hc-lender-rowland-layoffs-settlement-0118-20160109-column.html
Again, the taxpayers lose to
the powerful public sector unions. The relevant question is -who represents the
taxpayers when these union contracts are negotiated? Apparently, no one!
In conclusion, BLOOMBERG.COM offers
The Case for Allowing U.S. States to Declare Bankruptcy...,
Within the article, David Skeel
Jr., a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a leading
advocate of giving federal bankruptcy protection to states notes “Bankruptcy lets
you get ahead of the problem. “Without that option, what inevitably happens when you’re in deep
financial distress is that you have to cannibalize other stuff. “You cut police, schools, other
services. “You reinforce the downward
spiral.”
Bloomberg also notes “In another scenario, a state that goes
broke and has no recourse to bankruptcy may end up seeking help from the
federal government. ‘We want to cut off the
politicians from assuming that at the end of their wild overspending they can
just dump the responsibilities on other taxpayers,’ says former House Speaker
Newt Gingrich.”
So is that where Connecticut is
headed? Only time will tell!
But it looks like others are
in the same sinking boat….
Within the past 24 hours Puerto Rico is making the news as
noted within the New York Post headline City lawyers, consultants cash in on Puerto Rico's bankruptcy
and Bloomberg Puerto Rico Faces Prospect of Financial Control Board
Chicago’s finances are
also in decline. On January 19, we
learned that Sources: Lawmakers to Introduce Legislation Allowing ...
Bankruptcy, Oversight for City and CPS (Chicago Public Schools)
Mish Shedlock recently reported
that Former Hasbro CEO Says "Providence Should Consider Bankruptcy";
An Option Chicago Needs.
On January 20, Mish reported "B" Word Hits Chicago:
Illinois Governor Proposes Bankruptcy for Chicago Public School System,
as Detroit Schools Sue to Try to Stop Teacher Absences - ABC ....
Continue reading to learn
By Ed Ring, the executive director of the California
Policy Center.
Also Put Pension Tsunami on your radar screen….
************************
In Connecticut we are
already Taxed to the Max. Below you can compare
the mill rate in your town versus the other 168 CT towns. Also when the
State Budget is finalized – Check to see how much State money your municipality
will receive which could alter the amount of property taxes you will ultimately
pay.
Per the State of Connecticut’s Website
Mill Rates
Description - A mill is equal
to $1.00 of tax for each $1,000 of assessment. To calculate the property tax,
multiply the assessment of the property by the mill rate and divide by 1,000.
For example, a property with an assessed value of $50,000 located in a
municipality with a mill rate of 20 mills would have a property tax bill of
$1,000 per year.
Local property tax mill rates have been set for individual
Connecticut
municipalities for fiscal year 2015-2016. These rates are based upon the 2014
grand list and are available below. These are the most current mill rates
and are reflected in each municipality's July 2015 tax bills.