By: Diane Benjamin
I few days ago I posted how much citizens of Bloomington have been forced to pay because City employees are allowed to spike pensions: https://blnnews.com/2016/08/20/proof-the-council-is-immaterial/
Only $1,597,264.60!
That’s money that could have been spent for the benefit of citizens, instead of employees.
When I did a FOIA request for Bloomington, I included a few other government agencies too. Here’s what they paid in penalties (accelerated payments):
Bloomington is obviously winning the “let’s throw money away” race.
Sadly, they make the other guys look good.
History recap:
Citizens didn’t know anything about these penalties until the Chicago Tribune splashed Emily Bell – former Bloomington employee – on their FRONT page for getting the biggest payout in the state.
Then, I discovered that wire transfers hadn’t been approved by the City Council because they were left off of Bills and Payroll. Nothing is going to stop these payments under Renner, but at least we would have known about them before the Chicago Tribune!
For more information, go to BlnNews.com – type Emily Bell in the Search Box on the right.
I vaguely remember the spiking issue was to return to the Council for further discussion. No backbone! The cadillac health insurance has not been addressed even though it was supposed to when ACA was passed. The City is one of the largest employers in Bloomington. This stuff really matters when it comes to controlling spending and good stewardship of tax dollars.