By: Diane Benjamin See Book 1 of the Budget here: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8224 I have to congratulate Bloomington for putting together a readable budget. It contains lots of details and easy to read charts. Yesterday I posted the Administration Budget, I will be posting others later. Police and Fire are two departments essential to citizens. Below is […]
By: Diane Benjamin Both David Hales and Tari Renner have proclaimed their “Bare Bones” budget is unsustainable. This is code for we can’t raise taxes in an election year. Karen Schmidt and Joni Painter voted for all the tax increases last year, you are supposed to forget. Asking them to vote for more now is […]
This story was originally published FEBRUARY 5, 2015. The City of Bloomington continues to allow pension spiking! By: Diane Benjamin The City of Bloomington allows ALL employees to accumulate sick days and get paid for them when they retire – up to 1800 hours. It doesn’t matter their salary might have been much lower when […]
By: Diane Benjamin I’m one of those people who thanks veterans and the police whenever I see them. I really appreciate the job they do for the people of this country. I have military and police in my family, their jobs aren’t easy. We all know veterans have made the ultimate sacrifice, but so have […]
By: Diane Benjamin An Illinois Court ruled yesterday the pension fix law passed by the legislature and signed by Gov Quinn is unconstitutional. Yipee – Illinois is at least $100,000,000,000 in debt because of pensions, but we have a constitutional responsibility to pay. How much is in your wallet – fork it over now. I […]
by: Diane Benjamin Alderman David Sage was elected to the Bloomington City Council in 2007. His job now is NOT to represent his Ward, it’s to run interference for Mayor Renner. You wouldn’t know that unless you watch the Council meetings. How does he run interference? He makes sure spending cuts can never be discussed. […]
by: Diane Benjamin People receiving pensions under Illinois Law aren’t the problem. The law is the problem, written years ago by people in Springfield thinking they could manage utopia and therefore buy votes. The system worked until people actually started retiring. Their checks automatically increase every year by 3%. Within 10 years they get paid […]
by: Diane Benjamin Democrats have abused taxpayers in Illinois for years, but citizens don’t care: As ranked by its residents, Illinois is the #1 in worst place to live 745,000 residents in Illinois are now on Food stamps There are nearly 300,000 fewer Illinoisans working today than in January 2008 Illinois has the worst private […]
Courtesy of Open The Books. Most other districts are available at: http://www.openthebooks.com/search/documents/?PensionCode=1853 The State of Illinois is going to try to transfer teacher pension payments to local districts. Then what? District 87 http://www.openthebooks.com/file.aspx?AssetPath=ZC3qJRVoHAKKqfRvuR1E64DeD6vqVg18GDALGsi0AxXK7kbTpPnS6SiX4%2fDIMgpDqM6X2ctrjXhDBJ25CJwyL4lkgbAq0LPcgtany1h%2b3omaycfe5yZoOgvq%2b5QjoTAg%2fOOvJj36GkFGQML826VsBQ%3d%3d . Unit 5 http://www.openthebooks.com/file.aspx?AssetPath=ZC3qJRVoHAKKqfRvuR1E64DeD6vqVg18GDALGsi0AxWX6JXqZYrCXYF6RzMq4WvdUEfZgyi8lWfTUxjwfJfiITtTZKVXcZv3hBxFA4dvK2xKwkDxuKMJ2Mh7mfMzV5AnDllz%2f0UYhT%2f%2fr2yWoKNitQ%3d%3d . Tri-Valley http://www.openthebooks.com/file.aspx?AssetPath=ZC3qJRVoHAKKqfRvuR1E64DeD6vqVg18GDALGsi0AxUyhguDW4CQAau2csZbtn%2fDpnj21Ti%2ffm7kQIHg7AaagwjphFurF7EXrJzOQ93qUA%2bJCpubgoHXMY4mthxEjRZK%2bJ6WYuRtYVlHjJ91P93bjQ%3d%3d . Olympia http://www.openthebooks.com/file.aspx?AssetPath=ZC3qJRVoHAKKqfRvuR1E64DeD6vqVg18GDALGsi0AxVY9P9%2bJizBFDSAhEFM1tHNJRbCrT9QlB1d8lhUhkEXMaq4%2bKMtPuSbzReEdLVOCJeQ7LmpeuGQska6YStgedvB . . . .
In 1979, the original Sony Walkman was the newest way to listen to music. Switchboard operators still connected telephone calls. That’s also when the Illinois village of North Riverside signed its first contract with the firefighters’ union. A lot has changed in 35 years. But the union has clung to its decades-old business model and […]
by: Diane Benjamin All of the following emails were received under the Freedom of Information Act. I still hear people say “Why isn’t the Bloomington Council be more like Normal’s?” Did you ever tell the kids to just go away for a while and be quiet? You needed time, space, whatever – so the kids needed […]
by: Diane Benjamin At the April 28th City Council meeting, Mayor Renner verbally attacked Alderwoman Stearns on the accuracy of her data. If you forgot – here’s a tiny clip just to remind you: . Since nobody else is fact-checking statements Renner made during the Council meeting, I have to. Before the vote to raise […]
by: Diane Benjamin A fireman in Bloomington gave an example of his pension at a Townhall meeting this week. He said he would retire at age 56 with a $40,000 a year pension. I don’t know anybody who would fault a guy who risked his life to keep us safe a $40,000 a year pension. […]
by: Diane Benjamin A big part of the Bloomington Budget discussion has been pension funding. In November the City Council adopted an aggressive funding plan to save money in later years. The chart below shows the problem. The numbers come from this link: http://www.cityblm.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=5930 Page 250. The Police and Fire pension funds were the worst funded. […]
by: Diane Benjamin Local governments across the state are buried in unfunded pension debt. Pouring millions of dollars into pensions funds will not solve the problem. It is more than obvious pensions are an outdated idea abandoned by the private sector decades ago. Local pensions are controlled by Springfield. If they don’t fund their pensions, […]
by Diane Benjamin Being an Illinois legislator is supposed to be a part-time job. Their salary is at least $66,876, many earn much more by serving as chair of various committees. It looks like good news that 24 new public servants have decided to turn down a pension. Part-time jobs don’t come with pensions anywhere else, […]
by: Diane Benjamin Alderman Rob Fazzini spelled out exactly where Bloomington stands financially at the Budget Workshop on Saturday. Start watching at 3:08:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTvdmisMbPA&list=UUS8WR70NFd2XMmFYRDHEGEw While Rob did a great job spelling out how bad the city finances look, I don’t agree with Rob’s philosophy of borrowing more money to get out of the mess prior Councils […]
by: Diane Benjamin Tomorrow the Bloomington City Council will meet ALL DAY to discuss the City budget. Mayor Renner and City Manager David Hales are presenting “Culture Change”. They want raises for City employees and 17 new employees. Those 17 new employees come with 17 new pensions. The City of Bloomington pension systems are severely […]
by: Diane Benjamin This morning Mayor Renner was on WJBC still denying he had anything to do with the Modified Wards referendum. Once again Mayor: Are you lying or is Rob Fazzini: Look for more lies to come as the budget debate goes forward. Mayor Renner will try to blame City Manager David Hales for […]
by: Diane Benjamin It’s common knowledge that government pensions are MUCH bigger than anything offered in the private sector. Teachers remind us they don’t qualify for Social Security, which is true. But what about local government employees? Below is a list of City of Bloomington employees where the City is paying into both the pension […]
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS & ADMINISTRATORS Sue to keep gold plated pensions Read the lawsuit here _______________ YET… TOP 100 School Administrator Pensions Exceed $180,000 per year,click here. AND… over 4,767 educators have $100,000 plus annual retirement pensions- to search Heat Map click here. This pension lawsuit is about protecting the perks of highly-compensated school administrators who don’t even […]
by: Diane Benjamin It’s completely ridiculous that people from all political persuasions can’t sit down and reach common ground. It doesn’t help that both sides are prone to LIE and EXAGGERATE the truth for their uniformed minions. I read leftist emails and sites because I need to know what they are saying. Sometimes it is […]
The annual required payment wasn’t ever enough to adequately fund pensions. Obviously making even the required payment wasn’t a priority. Most of the City Council voted YES on budgets knowing pensions weren’t funded. Now they want to raise gas and/or utility taxes because they couldn’t find cuts in the $169,000,000 budget for […]
$20 BILLION UNDER-FUNDED STATE UNIVERSITY PENSION PLAN (SURS) “Each passing day without pension reform threatens the excellence of higher education at the 65 colleges & universities.” Institute of Government & Public Affairs, University of Illinois March 12, 2013 Share on Facebook, Click here Vernon O. Crawley, Moraine Valley Community College $673,000 final year salary […]
by: Diane Benjamin Or maybe Mr. Niehaus should foot the bill for his retirement party. Received under the Freedom of Information Act, this is what Mr. Niehaus has contributed to his Illinois pension: That seems like a lot of money until you realize his pension will pay him back in less than 2 years. I […]
and why Gary Niehaus wants to retire early Even if Illinois pension funds see investment returns that exceed expectations, that still won’t be enough to plug the largest fund’s hole. The Teachers’ Retirement System reported its pension underfunding grew to $55.73 billion as of June 30, 2013 — an increase of more than $3.5 billion […]
TOTAL EMPLOYEE PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS: $697.34 MILLION TOTAL FIRST YEAR PENSIONS: $561.48 MILLION (Average Time for return of employee contributions: 15 months) Visit our interactive “$100,000 Educator Pension Map” Click Here (Search by Retiree or […]
by: Diane Benjamin The following graphs are from openthebooks.com One thing that aggravates citizens more than anything else is government employees getting things the private sector would never consider. Most, if not all, Bloomington employees and accumulate sick days and get paid for them when they retire. Any private companies do that? How about basing […]
What do you think the annual pension will be for a member of the Internal Revenue Service’s top brass after working 33 years in government? Five figures? Six figures? If you live in Illinois, you likely chose six figures. But according to the Daily Mail, Lois Lerner — of IRS infamy and tea party targeting […]
While all eyes are focused on a solution for Illinois’ state-run pension systems, Chicago’s own debt crisis is looming. Chicago taxpayers are on the hook for more than $63 billion in pension, health insurance and other debt. That’s the total debt of the city and its sister governments, as well as Chicagoans’ share of Cook County debt. […]
Retired doctor earns highest public pension in Illinois history CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) – As the pension crisis in Illinois moves even closer to the tipping point, a milestone of sorts has been crossed without notice — until now. A retired doctor with big-time credentials will get a public pension of more than a half million dollars […]
By MICHAEL D. LAFAIVE The city of Detroit announced it has filed for bankruptcy. Gov. Snyder must still approve of the move. If he does, it is a sad day in the long decline of a once powerful city. It did not need to come to this. Warning signs were everywhere and only increased in intensity in […]
By Pat Hughes We have gotten used to a steady drumbeat of bad news about Illinois. It is not even news anymore when we find out that Illinois is last in the nation, or 47th, or somewhere near rock-bottom, in one economic ranking or another. We have known for a while now that Illinois is last in […]
Will Illinois Be Saved by a Committee? That Never Happens, Right? Everyone knows that Illinois has a big problem with its pension obligations. The simple version of what happened is this: The Illinois public sector employees unions and their allies in Springfield have granted themselves far more pension money than the state can possibly pay […]
6/14/2013 by: Ben VanMetre Senior Budget and Tax Policy Analyst Illinois Policy Institute The Illinois General Assembly is gearing up for a special session to discuss pensions next week because of lawmakers’ reform inaction during the recent spring session, which resulted in back-to-back credit rating downgrades. The debate during session will likely be over which of two plans […]
Illinois` tipping point: Highest unemployment rate in Midwest CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) – It may be the most painful symptom of the economic illness that has put Chicago at a tipping point: our unemployment rate is the highest in the Midwest. It’s almost two percentage points higher than the national average. More than 600,000 are looking for […]
Residents happy and officials in Sandy Springs, Ga., get re-elected with huge margin By JARRETT SKORUP | June 7, 2013 | When Sandy Springs, Ga., became the “city that outsourced everything” in 2005, it did it out of necessity. Today, the town of about 100,000 residents has great roads, a state of the art traffic system, award-winning parks, and has funded […]
Fitch Ratings, one of three major ratings agencies, today lowered Illinois’ credit rating after lawmakers failed to enact a solution to fix the state’s nearly $100 billion pension shortfall. The firm said it would drop the Illinois rating from “A” to “A-.” Illinois already has the lowest rating in the nation. Lower ratings mean paying higher […]
by: Diane Benjamin Government says gas prices are too low – government makes sure they go up so you don’t drive as much. Gas taxes go down because you aren’t driving as much, so government wants to tax electric cars, maybe all vehicles, by the miles driven. Government doesn’t like fossil fuels, so it hands […]
by: Paul Kersey Illinois Policy Institute As Illinois government pensions continue to deteriorate, union officials argue that they are not to blame; that the fault lies with politicians who failed to fund pensions. For instance, the union pension lobby group “We Are One Illinois” argues that, “[F]or decades, Illinois politicians shorted or skipped the employer […]
