SHELL GAMES IN WAMPSVILLE
On December 4, The Madison County Board of Supervisors is getting set to give themselves yet another raise…from $12,600 to $20,000….(don’t forget to add the additional salaries paid by the Town’s on top of this $5,000+) …oh, but they’re “giving back” their fully paid health benefits that cost the county up $12,000 each per year. They claim this will be a $45,000 per year savings…in the short term, but over the LONG TERM this modification will cost us taxpayers $100,000’s.
Bottom line: this switch will allow them to take even more out of the public coffers – through the INCREDIBLY GENEROUS New York State Retirement System: http://www.osc.state.ny.us
1 - they pay NO NYS TAXES on this Pension (and they complain about the Oneida Nation not paying their fair share of taxes!) ; 2-receive Cost of Living Increases (not in most private plans); 3- ability to “spike” final years’ earnings to increase their pension; 4- $20,000 of pensions from their other Private Retirement Plans are also not taxable in NYS; 4- ability to retire at 55; and 5- vest in 5 years (part timers included).
It is precisely these pension benefits that are literally driving this state into bankruptcy. Here is a link to a recent article and footnote, explaining how these public employee benefits are worth up to 6 TIMES that of the private sector jobs as result of the NYSR system perks and benefits. http://www.nyfiscalwatch.com
These are PART TIME JOBS …MOST of these Supervisors have full time jobs or spouses that have health care available. They take the county healthcare because it’s “Free” to them. Why is it that the Government “Ruling Class” is getting better benefits than us TAXPAYERS? Because “they” make the rules…. How many of us get to give ourselves a raise?
I urge our Supervisor, John Salka, to vote NO and take this message to the other Supervisors: this is no time for them to “feather their nests” while the rest of us make the sacrifices in this economy. These PART TIME jobs with SUPREME BENEFITS have got to stop. If they are there for the salary and benefits, then they are there for the wrong reasons. They need to do the RIGHT THING – forgo the $8,000 raise and pay for a fair portion of their health benefits.
