So when are you going to give a shit, Mass. residents?
Related: Pike Hike Hubbub
Mass. Property Taxes Rising"Pensions to strain city, town finances; New infusions needed as funds lose value" by Todd Wallack, Globe Staff | December 11, 2008
And just WHERE do you think that $$$ will be headed? Some money manager's account!!!!
Massachusetts cities and towns will probably face bigger payments into pension plans that cover their workers and retirees because of this year's stock market plunge, potentially forcing communities to cut spending on police, schools, and other services.
Gee, I sure am glad the state pension director carved himself a nice "$64,000 bonus on top of his $322,000 annual salary -- even as the fund lost $1 billion dollars!!!!
Of course, "flushing . . . millions of dollars away supporting a highly profitable industry" when it comes to $300 million in taxpayer dollars for Hollywood is o.k., even as the price of a school lunch rises; paying $13 million for a computer software system that could have cost less than $3 million is all right because the winner was a close friend of the House speaker, even as my poorer-than-dirt district "has been struggling to close a $2 million budget gap."; the lottery shelling out "millions of dollars" for sports tickets for "lottery officials, their family members, and friends" is fine, even as schools are closing; making interest payments to banks to the tune of "a staggering $22 billion" for the Big Pit, as we call it around here, is required, even as bridges are neglected across the state; and again, paying off banks like UBS, who can "demand repayment of an additional $2 million a month beginning in January" while also receiving a "$179 million payment."
Oh, and did I not mention the $1 BILLION dollar giveaway to the pharmaceutical corporations, even though "it's never been easy to turn a profit in biotech?" Flush that money away, too, taxpayer. Of course, the war looters were next in line for a handout. And should the state be appropriating money for a "multimillion-dollar reconstruction" of golf courses?
Nor is it RECKLESS to BORROW the STATE INTO OBLIVION so they can PAY INTEREST to BANKS while SITTING ON $2 BILLION DOLLARS!
Need one final insult, Mass. taxpayers?
"Town officials... are trying to decide how much of a property tax break to offer and how they can secure state funding for infrastructure improvements.... although it could take several years for the studio to realize its potential"
Also see: Hollywood, Massachusetts
Hollywood (East) Disses Veterans
More Mass. $$$ to Movie Makers
Sorry, that wasn't it:
"$5m in tax breaks going to IBM for Littleton project
The Massachusetts Economic Assistance Coordinating Council approved $5 million in state and local tax breaks for IBM Corp., which recently began a $63 million expansion in Littleton. IBM vice president Bob McDonald said the company plans to create 42 jobs at the site over the next decade. McDonald said the computer giant, based in Armonk, N.Y., has already begun renovating a building and hopes to move into it next month. McDonald said the tax incentives were important, but the company would have gone forward with the expansion without them. IBM has 4,000 employees in Massachusetts, including about 2,000 in Littleton (Boston Globe October 30 2008)."
Yup, but SERVICES need to BE CUT!
Massachusetts "liberals' are SO DUCKING TOO-PID!!!!!!!!!
Local pension funds, which are heavily invested in financial markets, lost about 29 percent of their value through the end of November, mirroring declines in other public pension funds nationwide, according to an estimate by Robert Dennis of the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission. The organization oversees the state's 106 public pension funds, which cover hundreds of thousands of people.
Barring a market recovery or increased aid from the state, officials warn, cities and towns will almost certainly have to make larger payments in the next few years to compensate for the decline in pension assets, using money earmarked for other spending.
And UP will go TAXES again! Hey, I KNOW Massachusetts: I've lived here my whole life!
"It's very serious, not just for pension funds, but for everyone," said Geoff Beckwith, director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, which represents local towns. "It will force a cash crunch on cities and towns and create real havoc."
How about BIOTECHS, HOLLYWOOD, or RAYTHEON paying it off, huh? They could GIVE US BACK our TAX MONEY!
Unlike state and federal governments, the local communities have few ways to raise additional money without voter approval, partially because of Proposition 2 1/2, the state law limiting property tax increases. In addition, state lawmakers have already suggested they might reduce local aid to balance the budget.
After they said they WOULD NOT!
And even Prop 2 1/2 ain't all it's cracked up to be:
"Proposition 2 1/2 does not mean individual taxes cannot rise more than 2 1/2 percent a year. The 2 1/2 percent refers to the overall tax collections, not individual tax bills.... While cities and towns nationally generate less than half of their local revenue from property taxes, Massachusetts communities rely on property taxes for 73 percent"
Then WHERE is that $$$ GOING?!! We KNOW WHERE!!!!
Oh, yeah, btw:
"Communities have not fully recovered from slashes to local aid made in the last recession"
Even before the market crashed, most communities didn't have enough money set aside for pensions....
So where have those tax dollars been going?
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While there is no indication that government pensions are in jeopardy, growing deficits mean municipalities will gradually have to shovel more money into their plans....
Then ONE WONDERS WHY THIS is a FRONT-PAGE LEAD!! More AGENDA-PUSHING, huh? getting you SET for those TAX INCREASES and BUDGET CUTS we "need" so cities and towns can chuck more money at Wall Street!
Yeah, toss it into the PENSION FUNDS!!! Hell, if the public won't bail out banks willingly, we'll make 'em do it through our pension laws.
Indeed, some cities and towns were already attempting to cope with deficits nearly the size of their entire annual budgets. For instance, the City of Everett, with a $125 million budget, reported a pension deficit of more than $100 million. As of Jan. 1, its pension plan was only 37 percent funded. Springfield's pension shortfall is $403 million, three-quarters of its annual budget, and the plan was less than 43 percent funded as of the beginning of the year.
When I think of the TRILLIONS this nation has pissed away in Iraq and through the Wall Street giveaway.... aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!
Other systems with less than half the assets needed in their pension systems include Lynn, Chelsea, Lawrence, Webster, and New Bedford. Boston's pension fund was 64 percent funded as of January 2006. "Looking forward to 2009, cities and towns should try to rein in spending and be prepared for another tough year," said state Treasurer Tim Cahill.
Yeah, but we will GIVE TAX MONEY AWAY to, oh, well, you saw the links for yourself!
But communities won't immediately have to make higher pension payments.
Then WHY the FRONT-PAGE TREATMENT? Talk about AGENDA-PUSHIUNG!!!!
Typically, they recalibrate pension contributions every three years, using complex actuarial assumptions to figure out how much they will owe to current and future retirees. While some are scheduled to update figures next year, others won't run new calculations until 2011. And even communities that adjust their figures next year won't start making revised payments until 2010. In addition, pension systems commonly use accounting techniques to spread out losses and gains on their investments over several years, reducing the impact from one aberrant year.
Then WTF is with the Chicken Little treatment, Globe?
So we can CUT SERVICES to dump $ into Wall Street PENSION FUNDS?
Un-fucking-believable!
"Public pension funds take a long-term view," said Keith Brainard, research director for the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. "They tend to measure investment returns over decades, not quarters or years."
Then WTF is with the ALARM, Globe, and why is this information in the BACK HALF of the TURN-IN, huh? Yup, those damn public employees at the till! Never mind those corporations or Hollywood picking our taxpayer pockets!
To allow cities and towns more breathing room, the Massachusetts Municipal Association plans to push for legislation to extend by several years the 2028 funding deadline....
Again, then why the alarm?
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Some local and state officials say an extension could potentially increase the amount of money municipalities will ultimately have to pay. Private companies are dealing with similar pension funding problems. Some have reduced benefits or dropped plans altogether.
Unbelievable.
No matter what way you turn, your trousers are being taken down and you are being butt-probed, Mass. taxpayers!
"The longer we delay the funding, the worse it becomes," said Springfield auditor Mark Ianello, who chairs that city's retirement board. "You have to bite the bullet at some point and stick to the funding schedule. Each day that we delay funding, it costs more down the road."
And who wins in the end? BANKS!!!!!
Like many municipalities, Springfield already is grappling with a huge bill to make up for past underfunding of its pension plan. Next year, the city is supposed to make a contribution of more than $34 million to its plan. If it had been fully funding the plan all along, the city would owe only $3.9 million. Everett has been forced to make up for its pension plan deficit by using money that could have gone toward a new fire station, sidewalks, or other services....
"There are so many other things I could do with" the money, said Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria Jr., who took office this year. "Predecessors of mine just put in the minimum amount, not realizing the impact" of a shortfall over the long term, he said.
Now officials in Springfield, Everett, and other communities worry that pension bills could climb even higher after they close the books on 2008 in a few weeks. Joseph Connarton, who runs the state's public retirement commission, said unless the markets turn around, most communities will undoubtedly need to contribute more to their pension plans in coming years. And it's one expense communities can't skip.
"There's no way around it," Connarton said. "You have to pay pension costs."
One would like to think the government or company will keeps its promises, but I never count on it!
