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Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Apparently the pension tsunami has started. I always thought it might look like this clip from “The Wave”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2NfpIl49oA
once again, in light of recent bailout/ school funding bill of cps/ctu pension fund (and chi prop owners)– if your a Harvey firefighter, taxpayer, property owner or mr fieorretti than your only recourse is to demand the same bail out deal from state for your penions (why does it matter if your a fund w 24,000 members as opposed to 100?). dido for all the other zillion underwater municipal pensions. L. Masall on wttw tonight was saying pretty much the same thing, the states going to have to step in and consolidate all the municp cop & fire pensions and… Read more »
What? 10% of market value property taxes in Harvey didnt fix the problem? I guess the residents can look forward to a property tax decrease, now that the payroll is smaller?
Basically, the town has been seized to pay pensions. In my view, pretty much every home with effective rates over roughly 3% has been confiscated.
Legally the town performed a constitutional act in upholding the current retirees impairment clause. And at the same time performed an unconstitutional act upon the current contributers in ending their pensions. Too bad the residents dont have such a strong constitutional clause that their town won’t impair their fire protection!
Ooh, Rick. You are on to a big one. I think there’s a very good case to be made that they do have a constitutional right to basic services such as fire protection. You’ll hear more about that soon and I am not ready to make the case yet.
Let’s insert racial politics. I’d wager that the retired firefighters are mostly white, or at the very least, a ratio that does not mirror the Harvey population. One could argue this is discriminatory. Furthermore, not allowing White-flight suburbs to declare bankruptcy is an extension of Jim Crow policies that keep minorities under the thumb of their long-gone white predecessors. Of course, politicians will let them keep extending their debt, which just exasperates the situation.
Amen. You’d think somebody would wake up to that. It’s true across the south suburbs, Chicago and many communities. To a large extent, the poor, particularly blacks, have had their homes confiscated to pay for pensions for old Irish guys, many of whom got their jobs in days when discrimination was real.
Wow Mark, and let me guess, these old Irish white retired guys no longer live in Harvey but in more stable munis, but they still control the pension board.
Probably left for warmer and lower taxes climes…..
Harvey is another example of what happens with unchecked Democrat power. Venezuela is another. Coming to all of Illinois. They will go down the scorched earth path.
Some pensions you just can’t reach. So you get what we had here last night, which is the way she wants it… well, she gets it. I don’t like it any more than you men.
So justice is finally serve. First off, almost all police and file departments are way, way overstaffed with too many administrators. In this case the union allowed the foot soldier to take the sword in favor of supervisors, that is what they get, boo hoo. Remember police departments are staffed based on number per citizen statistics that are dreamed up and propagandized by unions. So Step one, hire non-pensionable contractors to perform all non-violent reporting such as burglaries, traffic accidents etc. reserve full police for dangerous activities for which they are handsomely compensated. Next step end overtime obligations by allowing… Read more »