Jerry, This has been done on countless occasions and if someone doesn't make an effort to look at the evidence on why this occurred we can't force them to do so and that also pertains to individuals in the public that make comments on something of which they have NO knowledge of.
Being at years end probably $170 MILLION in the red if not more I hate to say that a sales tax might be the only way out of this problem, however we can do things which limit the length of this required tax. Some of us have worked on this the past few meetings and we welcome any input that people would be willing to give on suggestions which could be used to generate revenue to solve the pension problem the private sector way. I believe the individuals in upper management that have ignored this issue need to have serious reprimands placed into their personal files with the understanding the next screw up will result in terminations. tom On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 7:34 PM, Jerry Blevins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This individual approaches this issue as if the sales tax is the only > answer to this problem that was created by a failed city government. > One approach to this is to lay out how the system came about including > details, and why it has gone to this point to take steps to correct what was > "not sustainable under it's original design". > > It seems that we have a mind set that the only answer to problems is to tax > our citizens some more!!!! > > Jerry > > -----Original Message----- > *From:* missourilibertycoalition@googlegroups.com [mailto: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of *Tom Martz > *Sent:* Sunday, November 02, 2008 6:31 PM > *To:* missourilibertycoalition@googlegroups.com > *Subject:* Fwd: Statement on City Priorities-Public Safety > > This was written by a councilmember and I believe there is some > misinformation in this post such as the sustainability of the pension system > from the start, however I will not comment any further on this post as you > read it keeo in mind there are alternatives being worked on. We all know > this 1% is going to be the only plan on the table, hopefully some > requirements will be attached to it, if the city management wants a better > city then they will do something to show they are working for the betterment > of all . > > > > > Since the selection of our new City Manager Greg Burris, we have > had some meetings where the Council has discussed our views on what > priorities we should pursue as a city. In reality, each Council-member, out > of respect to the others, may not have had enough time in these settings to > fully elaborate opinions which deal with very important and complicated > matters. With this in mind, I personally feel the need to provide more > detail from this one councilman's perspective. > First off, the highest priority is to fix once and for all > our under-funded Fire and Police pension system. This pension program is > one that the voters of Springfield approved, and in my mind, are promises > that must be kept. With hindsight being 20/20, we now realize that the > pension fund was not sustainable under it's original design. We have > already taken steps to improve it's health, such as moving new hires into > the state-level LAGERS system, supplementing contribution rates, altering > investment strategies, etc. Some of the basic shortcomings have already > been addressed, but we still have more work to do. It is becoming apparent > that a sales tax is the only way to raise the funds necessary to make the > required financial repair in a quick enough time-frame to be effective. > Our challenge at this point, is to provide the tools and incentives to > make the duration of this tax as short as possible. I believe that this is > what it will take, to win the approval of a majority of Springfield > citizens, and to minimize the negative economic effect that higher taxation > causes. Taxpayers want to see in the ballot language that this money will > exclusively go to fix the pension fund only, and completely. We will also > want to see assurances on the ballot of real efforts by our city government > to do everything possible to supplement this repair with non-tax > revenue. We should designate 100% of available funds from any pending court > awards coming to this city for deposit into the pension fund. We should > also continue to explore the liquidation of any non-essential municipal > assets to supplement this fund. Current legal complications that prevent > this from happening may, in some cases, be overcome by specific ballot > measures with voter approval. The assets that potentially fall into this > category should be discussed and identified for liquidation. In addition, > in light of the current economic conditions, we should again look at our > pension fund investment protfolio, and consider the possibility of adding > high performing precious metals to our investment strategies. > To sweeten this tax request, I would propose a couple of ideas that > would make some real promises to the taxpayer. One, is the idea of a tax > shadow, a period of time where no new municipal tax measures could be > proposed, both during and for some time after the sunset of this tax. We as > a city, should determine an appropriate time-frame with which we could > guarantee an absence of new requests for revenue from the citizen. To > provide incentives to identify the most non-tax revenue that > could supplement the pension fund, assuring the shortest tax-duration > possible, I propose tying this request to a witholding of 50% of our city > government's upper management bonuses during the life of the added sales > tax. This would give the city's management team, the people most able to > identify non-essential funds/assets, a vested interest in doing so. These > bonuses, referred to as deferred compensation bonuses for non-classified > personnel, can be altered by Council action, without having to obtain voter > approval. > On another front, once we are well on the road to pension repair, we > need to examine the current pay structures of our public safety personnel. > As a city, we are working on realistically updating the list of other cities > which are very similar to us in most areas, to provide an accurate way to > benchmark the level of compensation we provide our Police and Fire > employees. I believe we need to do this in order to maximize our training > dollars, reduce police and fire employee turnover, and ensure the highest > level of public safety in Springfield. Providing a decent retirement is one > thing, but paying someone to stay to continue doing a good job is also > essential. My recommendation would be to identify a compensation level that > is close to, if not equal to the same benchmark level that our City > Management personnel are at. I realize that in order to afford this, > budgetary changes may need to be made, but as we are designing this road to > recovery, we need to keep theses adjacent issues in mind. It may mean > stretching out lump sum pension payments over a few years, it could mean > consolidating some city and county functions, but it is important that the > discussion starts. > Make no mistake, the rest of our city's employees deserve to be > included in this benchmark re-evaluation, as well. I personally feel that > not all departments in our city government should be treated equal, and > that Public Safety personnel should be compensated for the > extraordinary real dangers that they have a duty to deal with daily. Our > other employees, however, are also very important to the functioning of our > city, and we need to make sure that we are not neglecting any of them in the > big picture of Springfield's future. > In closing, I would mention some options that would be > counter-productive and unacceptable. One is a sales tax without some > guarantees to the taxpayer. Second, is any kind of legislation that > prevents citizens from providing for their own safety. Another is any kind > of job-killing earnings tax in this city. I also believe that measures that > would require the closing of any fire station to be very unwise. Finally, > leaving this economic/public safety problem unresolved is definitely > unacceptable. Years from now, I'd like to be able to point out to the time > in our city's history when we dealt with our looming issues, instead of > passing them on to the next generation. I pray the buck stops here. > > > > > > -- > Please Note: If you hit "*REPLY*", your message will be sent to *everyone*on > this mailing list ( > [EMAIL PROTECTED]) > This message was sent by DougBurlison ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) from Raising the > Barr for President Meetup 2008 <http://bobbarr.meetup.com/28/>. > To learn more about DougBurlison, visit his/her member > profile<http://bobbarr.meetup.com/28/members/7380054/> > To unsubscribe or to update your mailing list settings, click > here<http://www.meetup.com/account/comm/> > > Meetup Support: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 632 Broadway, New York, NY 10012 USA > > > > -- > http://votetom4council.webs.com/ > > http://417-political-pundit.blogspot.com/ > > www.moliberty.org > > "lite a fire for a man he'll be warm for a day, lite the man on fire and > he'll be warm the rest of his life". > > Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics > won't take an interest in you! > -Pericles (430 B.C.) > > In fact, there is a direct correlation between loyalty to one's spouse and > the "trustworthiness, sincerity, honesty and strength of leadership" > required to lead a nation. > ~John Edwards~ > > "no cause is lost if there is but one fool to fight for it" > ~Will Turner~ > ~Pirate's of the Caribbean @ World's End~ > > Save your property rights > www.mo-cpr.org > > http://www.radiofreeliberty.com > > > > > -- http://votetom4council.webs.com/ http://417-political-pundit.blogspot.com/ www.moliberty.org "lite a fire for a man he'll be warm for a day, lite the man on fire and he'll be warm the rest of his life". Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you! -Pericles (430 B.C.) In fact, there is a direct correlation between loyalty to one's spouse and the "trustworthiness, sincerity, honesty and strength of leadership" required to lead a nation. ~John Edwards~ "no cause is lost if there is but one fool to fight for it" ~Will Turner~ ~Pirate's of the Caribbean @ World's End~ Save your property rights www.mo-cpr.org http://www.radiofreeliberty.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ This is a Free Speech forum. The owner of this list assumes no responsibility for the intellectual or emotional maturity of its members. If you do not like what is being said here, filter it to trash, ignore it or leave. If you leave, learn how to do this for yourself. If you do not, you will be here forever. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
