The Meals Tax is a Woof in Astro's Costume - Vote NO on November 5th after the Halloween Masquerade ends...

Two articles from the RTD this past week describe the funk with Chesterfield and their pension crisis.  The first covers the $320,000,000 that the statewide pension fund must be paid back to the Virginia Retirement System over the next two years.

The state employee plan, with about $7.4 billion in unfunded liabilities, has a funded status of 65.1 percent. The teacher plan, with $15 billion in unfunded liabilities, has a funded status of 62.1 percent.

Rut row meals tax advocates!

 “The state has underfunded VRS so much that they had to pass a law so they could partially fund it,” said Henrico County Manager John A. Vithoulkas, who expects a significant increase in the county’s share of teacher pensions.
 

Hi Henrico. We have not missed you. No more talk of a lockbox.  No more bait and switch.

And then the confirmation also from the RTD that the pension funds are at the lowest funded level in over two decades!

Everyone likes to pretend these (public retirement) systems are in good shape when they’re not,” he said. “This system is not in good shape.”
 

Wait for it...

Local school divisions — and the governments that finance them — will pay an additional $244 million over two years if the legislature fulfills its promise to fund 80 percent of the required contribution to teacher pensions.
 

But it's for the children... Enter wolfie with 24% increases per year for each locality paying teacher pensions.

“I don’t think the numbers are way out of line with what we’ve been looking at,” said Chesterfield County Administrator James J.L. Stegmaier.

How serious is it?

Gov. Bob McDonnell and the General Assembly deferred payment of $620 million to state employee and teacher pensions in 2011 and 2012 — an amount that exceeded $1 billion with deferred local contributions for teachers.

So you see... The meals tax is for pensions.  The Taxpayer is for transparency and pension reform.  Until then... the revolt continues because the Taxpayer knows...

Vote NO on NOvember 5th.