By: Diane Benjamin
Yes, I know I posted this yesterday. I wouldn’t be re-posting this picture if it wasn’t vital to understanding what is happening to Illinois.
Government across Illinois exists for government employees.
It does not exist to handle problems citizens can not handle themselves. This is the proof:
An overwhelming percent of the debt is to pay people not to work.
https://normal.org/DocumentCenter/View/15625/CAFR19-FINAL-DOC
PDF page 36
Normal isn’t any better:
$101,656,070 |
$101 million dollars owed to people who are contributing nothing to citizens or the Town. Add another $87,660,834 Normal has racked up in debt.
Bloomington: $158,900,000 for people not working. The debt for the Coliseum and BCPA are minor in comparison.
The State of Illinois is in the same position. Soon they will only be able to pay pensions, and Medicaid.
Think Normal should be finding $10,000,000 for an underpass?
We are run by idiots. Understand Limited Government now?
(only doing jobs we can’t do ourselves: roads, police, fire. water, sewer)
Anybody who is on the “inside” of the Illinois Pension system (too many), and is intellectually capable of being honest with themselves and others (far too few), will tell you how unbelievably generous it is, particularly the manner in which pensions are calculated. Crazy bountiful–the AVERAGE retired public school teacher gets over $60,000 (state untaxed), with an average of only 28 years of service, with the majority also receiving at least a small Social Security payment, also. And sadly, actuarily unsustainable. Everybody has their head in the sand.
With the 3% annual increase a lot of them are back to earning as much as they did working within 10 years.
$60,000 is “unbelievably” generous? Tell me exactly the level of education that those teachers have to obtain to get that pension? It’s a master’s degree plus certification in the subject they are teaching. So they have to spend money go college and spend money for a graduate degree. They are likely have a debt to pay off their college expenses. All of that to teach your ungrateful children. All for you and commenters to sit around bloviating about how much money they make. Sorry they do not make that much money. Nobody goes into teaching to make money. NO ONE.
Just like no one becomes a policeman or fireman to become rich. They put their lives on line every single day for your sorry asses.
“$101 million dollars owed to people who are contributing nothing to citizens or the Town.”
Contributing “nothing”? They most certainly pay all the local taxes that you’re crying about in this screed. I bet anything that they also go out and buy things like food, clothing, gas and frequent local stores and restaurants. They buy automobiles and homes. They pay income taxes each year. I’d call that contributing.
Case you haven’t heard many head south when they retire. Who is going to pay that massive debt?
G Shitz apparently is unable to distinguish between Salary and Pension. The majority of those retired teacher DO NOT have advanced degrees or student debt. Simple fact. Phony issue. And considering that the average teacher salary in Illinois is now almost almost TRIPLE the average individual wage–and for 9 months work–I would argue that teaching is financially a pretty rewarding profession. Lots of problems with and disadvantages to being a teacher, but the pay scale certainly isn’t one of them.
The story had nothing to do with teachers! Evident can’t read either.
1.) There are many teachers who have a lot lower education level than “master’s degree plus certification in the subject they are teaching.” On that note, how many teachers in the state have obtained master’s degrees from diploma mills? If you’re obtaining one from ISU, great education school. If you’re obtaining one from XYZ College Online, that MAY be a different story. My Uncle has his Master’s degree and (suburbs) will retire with a starting PENSION of $105,000. His description: “I taught your regular, everyday basic math for my 6 hours a day.” He didn’t like too much homework because that interfered with his coaching. That pension will grow to $137,000 per year by the time he’s 68 years old.
I am not saying he doesn’t deserve a retirement, but would a $50,000 per year pension plus contributions to a 401k style account still be a great retirement? Yes. Would that a lot of obligation off the taxpayers? Yes. Does he need a 3% compounding raise to survive? Not right now and certainly hasn’t for a long, long time.
2.) I know a lot of people who go into teaching to make money. Some find after 3-5 years it’s not for them and move onto something else. Others stick with it because their pay goes up; they have good benefits/retirement; and they enjoy the vacation time. They aren’t going in to make $250,000 per year, but it allows them to live a good, middle-class life.
I don’t think anyone here is saying not to take care of police or firefighters. I think the thought is: can we afford to pay 75% of someone’s pay, plus 3% per year on top, plus retiree medical. All the while not taxing the amount. The answer is no, unless we want taxes to skyrocket, which will drive more people out. If someone has earned a pension amount up to this point, great. Don’t change that base amount. But why should the 3% cost of living adjustment be needed if cost of living doesn’t go up 3%? Why not index for inflation?
City employees contribute only 10% to their retirement.
City employees contribute only 25% to their health insurance coverage.
Some less, see yesterday’s story
You wouldn’t be able to come close in funding a retirement at this level if only 10% of a person’s salary was going to a 401k, even with a generous 100% match. Also, a pension is not received based on the collection of earnings over a lifetime. It’s based on the highest years. So someone retiring making $100k, especially if it’s spiked, won’t have been paying in 10% on a $100k salary each year. That pot of money is going to be a lot smaller because of much less in contributions and not able to fund what’s going out.
The pensions are a financial killer for sure. They’re also a political third rail. Add to which, the Illinois State Supreme Court said they can’t be changed. So, the Unions would have to consent to a reduction or any changes to the benefits and get their members to hop onboard. Even if they did, individual members could file suit. That court decision sealed the fate of Illinois as far as I’m concerned. While it will never happen, I wonder if an out of state pensioners tax on pensions for people that leave the state would survive a court challenge.
Instead of a Constitutional Amendment to raise taxes, there should be one to change pensions. Since the unions are the base and fund democrats it will never happen.
The more State employees, the more money for the Democrats and for the Republicans.
Patronage in Illinois has become a science, an insidious science that comes in many forms.
Pay to play.