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May 26, 2016
From: The Federation of Connecticut
Taxpayer Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
BREAKING:
Governor Malloy Gives the
Worlds Richest
Hedge Fund $52 Million to hire
750 Employees
while
Malloy terminates over 900 State Employees!!!!
Today, we learned that Connecticut middle class losing ground, as in most of the
nation as CTMirror.org reports the
following - Connecticut has seen some of the sharpest declines in the size of
its middle class over the past decade and a half, according to new
research. A
study by the Pew Research Center shows
the middle class is shrinking in 203 out of 229 metropolitan areas across the
country.
It is also apparent that the income of Connecticuts
middle class is shrinking with each and ever state and property tax dollar we
pay as we live in one of the highest taxed states in the Country.
Within the past 48 hours we have learned through CTNewsJunkie.com
that after Governor Malloy cut $820 million from the budget and $1 billion from
State bonding, and a Stubborn Deficit Remains In This
Years Budget of $259.1 million, Malloy
intends to bestow a gift to Bridgewater
Associates, the worlds largest hedge fund that manages more than $150 billion
in investments. That gift will be in the form of a $52 million economic
assistance package to expand its campuses in Westport,
Wilton, and Norwalk. On Friday of this week, the state Bond
Commission is anticipated to approve $22 million in borrowing for Bridgewater Associates while
also approving another $303 million in general obligation bonds which would be
part of the $2.7 billion Malloy intends to borrow this year. In 2015, the state
bonded $2.5 billion.
And yes, two of the four major rating agencies just
downgraded Connecticut
as noted within the article captioned Two Wall Street Firms Downgrade Connecticut Bonds. And yes, it is about debt. Lots and lots
of debt. $71 Billion of debt!!! Thats
what happens when our state legislators and governor know they can always
return to the deep pockets of the taxpayers. And they have mastered the art of
doing just that.
It appears the Governors philosophy as well as the Democrat
controlled state legislature is to enrich some while leaving the rest to pick
up the tap through increased taxes. How about reversing that logic and adopting
a new philosophy. Lets cut spending and taxes for all.
Sounds good but under the current laws of the state that is
difficult to do.
So first lets take a look at THE STATE OF OUR STATE.
And then LETS
REVIEW ITS MAJOR COST DRIVER which to date has
been ignored in all the rhetoric by all the politicians on the hill in Hartford.
As the States budget battle for fiscal year 2016-2017 comes
to a close, red ink continues to flow across Connecticuts
battle field. And that red ink overflowed within the past couple of weeks.
Although the states budget of $19.76 billion was closed with
no state tax increase, cuts to municipal aid will have a dramatic impact on the
local property taxes of the states 169 municipalities. On average 85% of our
property taxes in Connecticut
pay for the wages, pensions, and healthcare benefits of our Town and Board of
Education employees. And that negative impact could continue during the next few
fiscal years, as the States projected budget deficit for 2018-2019 is $1.4
billion.
Now lets factor in the States debt
of $71 Billion, the majority of which taxpayers owe for state retiree and
teacher pensions, which is highlighted below.
Kristi Allen of CTNewsJunkie.com reports Pew: Connecticut Has One of Highest Public Debt to Personal
Income Ratios. Therein Ms. Allen
writes the following-Connecticut has one of the highest ratios of debt to
personal income and the fifth highest ratio of state retiree health care
liabilities to income, according to a Pew Charitable Trusts report released
Tuesday.
The report, which measured each states pension, health care and debt
costs as a percentage of personal income, put Connecticut total liabilities at $67.5
billion dollars or 30 percent of personal income. The ratio of public debt to
private income is 8.8 percent, which ties Connecticut
with Massachusetts
for the second highest rate of public debt.
When pension, healthcare and public debt are totaled, Connecticut has the
fifth highest rate of unfunded liabilities. Connecticut pension woes are well documented.
The states pension obligations are about 40 percent funded, according to the 2015 actuarial
valuation of the fund. Continue reading at http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/pew_connecticut_has_one_of_highest_public_debt_to_personal_income_ratios/
As CTMirror.org offers the Report: CT 4th worst in unfunded pension
liabilities per teacher, we have
attached a list of pensions we received from the state.
The following are some of the top state pensions paid in
2015 for state retirees other than teachers. Jealous? Sure
you are!!!
|
MONTHLY BENEFIT $$$
|
ANNUAL BENEFIT $$$$
|
|
28,657.66
|
343,891.92
|
|
17,455.84
|
209,470.08
|
|
17,117.85
|
205,414.20
|
|
15,754.93
|
189,059.16
|
|
15,584.88
|
187,018.56
|
|
15,539.97
|
186,479.64
|
|
15,048.22
|
180,578.64
|
|
14,914.03
|
178,968.36
|
|
14,711.45
|
176,537.40
|
|
14,670.66
|
176,047.92
|
If you want to explore state pensions further, click on Pensions - Transparency Connecticut. You should see Calendar Year 2015. Go down to the word
Search and click it on. Next go to the column headed Total and click that on
twice. You will see the highest to the lowest pensions being paid per retiree. To
move from page to page, click the arrow over the word Total.
If you as a taxpayer are unhappy with the billions of
dollars in debt and deficits our state elected officials have incurred, you are
not alone.So are the credit rating agencies as the
Hartford Courant recently reported Two Wall Street Credit Agencies Downgrade State's Rating
A third credit rating agency, Moodys,
had this to say as they note the state continues to struggle with:
- An economic recovery that lags the nation and correspondingly
muted state income tax revenue;
- Per capita debt and retirement benefit obligations that are among
the highest of any state's;
- And major cities like Hartford, Bridgeport and New
Haven that remain heavily reliant on state
funding.
But Connecticut did not tumble over
the
fiscal cliff over night.
It was years in the making as our State
debt continued to climb while state officials pandered to lobbyists looking to
get a deal for their clients and state and municipal labor unions were
protected by two of the most destructive laws on the states books.These
state mandates (laws) are
BINDING ARBITRATION
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
For years, these two cost
drivers have put state and municipal unions in the drivers
seat of Connecticuts
state budgets as well as those of the 169 Connecticut towns.
STATE DEBT
$71
BILLION DOLLARS
As noted within the States latest
[PDF]Fiscal
Accountability Report - Connecticut General Assembly
The majority of the states debt is due to lucrative pension and
healthcare benefits promised by legally binding union contracts to state
retirees as noted below in red.
And Taxpayers Are Forced to Pay the Bill!!!!
|
STATE OF CT LONG
TERM DEBT OBLIGATIONS IN BILLIONS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Unfunded Liabilities
|
Nov. 2014
|
Nov. 2015
|
Difference
|
|
Debt Outstanding
|
$21.3
|
$22.8
|
$1.5
|
|
State Employee Retirement System (SERS)
|
13.3
|
14.9
|
1.6
|
|
Teachers Retirement System
|
10.8
|
10.8
|
0
|
|
State Post Employment Health and Life
|
19.5
|
19.5
|
0
|
|
Teachers Post Employment Health
|
2.4
|
2.4
|
0
|
|
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Deficit
|
1.1
|
0.7
|
-0.4
|
|
TOTAL
|
$68.4 BILLION
|
$71.1
BILLION
|
$2.7 BILLION
|
Binding Arbitration and
Collective Bargaining will be explored further in our next publication.In
the interim, review the very extensive document we provided you in March, by
clicking on the heading in red below.