Sure they like to talk about rundown schools and the need for new communication equipment; however, both elected officials and the County Budget folks have said that they can fund all of their needs through existing revenue streams. The only thing that changes is the timeframe. It Is the difference between 11 year program and a seven-year program.
The following article further highlights the pension liability issues at the state level and supports our methodology of looking at the annual CAFR report. The last CAFR report shows that there is $645 million worth of unfunded liability at the local level. Add an additional $80 Billion at the State level and you will see the full "need" beyond schools and public safety.
It’s no secret that most state pension plans across the country are deep in the red. However, a study by the nonpartisan group State Budget Solutions, Promises Made, Promises Broken: The Betrayal of Pensioners and Taxpayers, reveals that defined-benefit public government pension plans face a cumulative $4.1 trillion funding gap. Moreover, the study shows that combined, state pension plans are only 39 percent funded. In order for states to keep their pension promises to retirees and taxpayers, reform is crucial.
The Taxpayer wants two things:
- Pension Reform to limit the Taxpayer's exposure to unfunded liabilities
- Budget transparency where the County and CCPS checkbook and budget tools are online and geared towards the Taxpayer asking questions and finding answers to things yet to be uncovered.
Until the Taxpayer sees progress, the protest continues... Vote NO in NOVEMBER
![]()
Posts
Ken says Terry is corrupt. Terry says Ken is corrupt. I say I believe them both. That's why I am voting Robert C. Sarvis for governor of Virginia. The only candidate that has not been under investigation for moral and ethical issues.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a problem with telling the truth? The proposed 2% meals tax is written so that the funds would only repay the cost of the bonds for school renovation and construction and the public safety radio system. $324 million is the cost of the two bonds, $304m for the school bond and $20m for the public safety radio system. The meals tax, if passed by the voters, would generate appx. $18m per year and each penny of it would go to paying off the bond. I am the Chairman of the Group "Citizens for Chesterfield Students" and we are specifically supporting the bond issue and have not taken a position on the meals tax. Honesty is the most important part of public debate. I suggest you try it prior to posting a blatant falsehood that the meals tax is for pensions when the ordinance is specifically written so that the meals tax would pay for capital improvement projects not operating expenses. I insist you correct your story or provide verifiable evidence to support your assertion. Debate is healthy, and honest debate is healthy and expected.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Wayne Ozmore, Chairman, Citizens for Chesterfield Students.
We are confident that the kind Chairman would want any factual errors corrected. With that in mind, the Taxpayer offers the following corrections. First, the cost of the county’s emergency communication is $49 million, not $20 million as the Chairman stated. Second, the projected revenue of the NEW proposed meals tax is $8 million, not $18 million as the Chairman stated. But what is $29 million and $10 million difference, respectively, between friends, particularly when it is my money and not yours. The Taxpayer would never claim that these are lies; just typos where the Chairman may have “fat fingered” it.
ReplyDeleteWe are surprised at the sudden “support” of the Chairman for the meals tax when in fact, the Chairman publicly has stated that his new organization (welcome BTW to the discussion though late in the game) would not offer such support as the Chairman did not want the whole bond referenda (read NEW DEBT) for the county to be dragged to the bottom of the meals tax sea like the anchor of an idea that it is. Davy Jones’ locker is calling for your NEW DEBT too…
We are shocked that the Chairman offers no additional accountability or government transparency measures for his NEW organization’s support. This follows a trend of the “regional” realtors and Chesterfield big business types that blindly follow each other instead of offering real leadership. Real leadership would simply tell the County Administrator to put the County checkbook online and give us a budget tool where citizens can participate. Real leadership would stand up for the small restaurant owners and say NO special tax on Chesterfield business. But it is business as usual for the new kids on the block. We are sure that these organizations will suddenly say that “Regionalism is the answer to all of our woes”; when, in fact, that would offer even less accountability. Have you not learned the lessons of the past? The Taxpayer is ever present to ensure that your elephants do not forget.
Back to the caller’s question…Whilst the meals tax on paper is dedicated to retiring the NEW DEBT (just like the Virginia Lottery is dedicated to all Virginia Schools… The Taxpayer knows how that worked where those funds supplanted other whims of state legislatures to use education funds with no strings for other things.), it does not prevent funding from the $1.2 BILLION budget that would have rebuilt schools when the meals tax is defeated to fix unfunded liabilities and federal mandates that are the true sucking sound in our budget. The number one issue for State and local governments is unfunded retirement liabilities. Chesterfield continues to avoid this issue and it hurts teachers and Chesterfield County employees. When the county continues to make promises to employees that it knows it will never keep, that is morally corrupt.
The following article does a great job of outlining the true debt (DEBT that the Chairman wants to increase in Chesterfield and is actively encouraging its citizens to vote for) for every man, woman, and child in the United States.
http://www.ijreview.com/2013/10/83785-incredible-much-man-woman-child-owe-united-states/
Future unfunded debt liabilities are currently estimated to be $125 trillion — somewhere between a range of $86.8 trillion and the mind-boggling $238 trillion reckoned by Harvard economic historian Niall Ferguson. That’s somewhere between $256,000 and $758,203 each man, woman and child owes the U.S. government in the future — again, a reasonable estimate is $398,000.
Lastly, we encourage the Chairman to swim in the baby pool a wee bit longer until he is ready for the big pants pool. There are sharks out there who love verbal diarrhea and the Taxpayer is a tiger shark with a nose.
"ChesterfieldTaxpayer" demands transparency and accountability ... then declines to be so transparent as to sign his (her?) own name. Oh, the irony. What "leadership."
ReplyDeleteSigned,
Anonymous
(Since it's good enough for you ...)