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