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21. mr
    Member

    Apparently, the pension board offers the option of paying a full amount now, or making a partial payment now and another later. Of course, the other payment is larger, to make up for the lost investment income. I think that the interim village manager and the non RCA board members voted to make the full payment now.

    You are right that the pension payments are guaranteed. No matter how the funds are invested - the municipalities have to make up any investment loss. That is one of the differences between goverment plans and those available in private industry - who converted to cash balance plans over the last 15 years. Also, private pension plans do not have COLAs, but goverment plans do. We are now in the absurd situation where there will not be a Social Security COLA on 2010, but many goverment plans are guaranteeing 3%. I don't know if that is the case with the municipal employee plans, but it certainly is the case with teachers and state legislators.

    I would have funded the full pension liability. I don't believe in fooling myself that deferring obligations is some sort of a savings.

    Posted Wednesday Oct 21, 2009 16:10 #

22. mr
    Member

    Some people may feel they voted against the tax hike and for the RCA with the full knowledge that service cuts were sure to follow, but I didn't meet any of those before the election.

    1. Some people mentioned the "efficiencies" motivated them.
    2. Some people, those with children, were upset about the cuts already made to the rec department before the election. These people also mentioned the lack of a crossing guard at Ames School, noting that North Riverside is providing a crossing guard for those who cross Des Plaines and 26th to get to the school.
    3. I haven't met one person yet who wants police service cuts - in fact quite the opposite.
    4. Some people wanted more "vision" from the board. They want more tear downs and more development. They want Riverside to be like Elmhurst and Hinsdale and they feel that the board was unfriendly to developers. They are concerned about the obsolete housing stock in Riverside and would like to see blight laws enforced. They definetly do not like the "drug houses" on Burlington and Quincy.

    Just about all of these people voted against the tax increase and the TIF, so consistency isn't their strong suit either.

    I haven't met anyone who was concerned about cultivars in the parkways.

    Posted Wednesday Oct 21, 2009 16:21 #

23. CuriousResident
    Member

    Interesting read from summer 2008 Budget alternatives - Where we are at, how we got here, and what we are doing Not much has changed in a year~

    The page 13 items about property taxes and the levy the village receives (being a flat amount, not a percentage...and that it has gone down while total property taxes have gone up) is particularly interesting.

    I wonder if "the fix" is in battling for a larger piece of the pie? I'm sure everyone is going to fight to maintain their piece of the pie, but it seems like this is the only significant option to "change the game".

    Posted Wednesday Oct 21, 2009 17:06 #

24. mr
    Member

    People always think that because assessments go up, property taxes go up. That isn't the case. It is also not true that if assessments go down, property taxes go down. Riverside can only receive what the voters approve, with an annual inflationary increase. It is the same for the school districts. They are levying taxes that the voters approved. Riversides share of the tax pie has dropped because the voters have not approved tax increases for them, but they have approved them for the two school districts. The voters actually voted to increase the size of the pie, but they gave all the money to the school districts. I don't think the county has had a property tax increase either. They raised the sales tax instead.

    I don't think there is any way to take from one taxing body to give to another. I do think that it is possible to work with the boards of education and ask them to lower their levy, but the money would go back to the taxpayer and the taxpayers would still have to approve an increase in the village's tax levy.

    It's pretty clear from reviewing this memo that the previous administration has been trying to figure out where to cut for quite a while.

    Posted Wednesday Oct 21, 2009 17:24 #

25. spatny
    Member

    Here's a stunner from the Chicago budget announced today. Chicago's ENTIRE resiidential property tax revenue is going solely to the cost of pensions. Think about it. The budget gap they had to make up was almost $600 million. Almost 80% of the budget is personnel. They have to use money from the parking meter deal to bridge the gap. Quote Ald. Stone: "This was designated a rainy day fund, and this is that rainy day." He said: "If you don't spend reserves now, when do you spend them."

    Posted Wednesday Oct 21, 2009 19:25 #

26. mr
    Member

    The city has been selling its assets - the Skyway, Midway airport, the parking meters, primarily to pay for pensions.

    Public employee pensions are far, far, too generous. I have never read an article defending these pensions or the public employee unions that push for them. Articles on this subject are in every major newspaper in the country. I called a gentlemen in the Governors office - Ben Hamilton - in the Chicago office to ask what the governor plans to do about them. The problem is also the legislature. I called Dan Hynes's campaign committee as well and asked the same question. Any candidate with the support of the teachers union or a public employee union is suspect.

    Posted Wednesday Oct 21, 2009 19:43 #

27. spatny
    Member

    That's a stretch. "Any candidate with support..." What about those that take money from Wall Street, or the Health Insurance guys, or....

    I was going to recommend an interesting DVD that the Riv Library has - I.O.U.S.A. - One Nation, Under Stress, In Debt. It does a very nice job of showing the untenable position we are in regarding our debt and deficits. It traces the debt figure and shows it as a percent of the current GDP at each year since the founding of the nation, explains trade deficits, the Fed, etc. Everyone should look at this - it is non-partisan. FYI - The debt figure at the start of 2009 was about $185,000 for every single man, woman, child in the U.S. - probably be up to $250,000 by the end of this year. It would be laughable if not so serious. The result of living beyond our means on a national level. I urge you to look at it...

    Posted Wednesday Oct 21, 2009 21:56 #

28. mr
    Member

    Our whole campaign finance system is suspect and should be changed.

    Right now, though, I am focused on public employee pensions, which are bankrupting every large state in the union. I am not talking about private industry unions - just public employee unions. I call the campaigns of any candidate who advertises the support of a public employee union, to ask about their plan to address the abuse of public employee pensions. If they are not part of the solution, they are part of the problem.

    Again, I have never read an article that defends these pensions - and that is in newspapers from coast to coast. It really is a significant problem. A lot of social programs could be funded if these pensions were closer to what is available in private industry - keeping in mind that the vast majority of taxpayers don't have pensions at all.

    Posted Thursday Oct 22, 2009 08:46 #

29. mr
    Member

    I just saw a campaign ad for Dan Hynes for Governor. I noticed that he promises a "line by line" review of expenditures for waste.

    Where have I heard this before. It sounds as if this is a stock promise for Democratic Party campaigns this year. Who could possibly be against that?

    Posted Thursday Oct 22, 2009 08:49 #

30. PAR4
    Member

    Democratic Party Candidates only? I think it will be the mantra of ALL candidates!

    What they don't say is they won't be able to do anything about the inefficiencies they find because of all the special interest groups....

    Posted Thursday Oct 22, 2009 09:00 #

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