file photo by Boyd Loving
Reader says politicians mismanaged the pension funds and stole money from the pension system
If those funds were invested like they were suppose to be, earning dividends, capital gains and interest, and the State of New Jersey didn’t give every county and municipality a “pension holiday” where the county and municipalities did NOT pay into the pensions as they were suppose to. Again money lost because it wasn’t invested properly…. because politicians mismanaged the pension funds and stole money from the pension system.”
I think Christie agrees: he inherited a state pension system that was broken and on the verge of collapse. He has to make up a lot more to close the underfunding gap, I don’t dispute that. But the fact of the matter is that promises that have been made are too generous. We can’t roll back what’s already been promised, but we can try to limit the growth in these liabilities for state taxpayers and property owners. Limiting the compound annual growth in these costs is a good thing for the long-term health of the state and will help to keep the pension plans solvent.
Remember that rising property taxes compound just like investments do. The higher the base, the larger the effect. Private sector workers don’t get COLAs and haven’t seen wage increases since the financial crisis; they have to save for their retirement and pay much more for healthcare than municipal workers.
Any thing for labor peace, it has gone on for decades.
The same politicians that gave the unions the big raises have underfunded their pensions!
hey who sad municipal workers don’t pay for health care.in the d p w they do. I don’t know what the pd or fd pays.
State has to put the money it owes back but the unions and workers have to realize the gravy train is over and pensions need to be frozen moving forward; benefits aligned with what the private sector receives and age for retirement eligibility increased. Policy of basing pensions on the last few years of service rather than average of entire years of service has to stop – many part timers really rape the system by loading up on hours at the ends of their careers as well as full timers and their OT. Gone are the days when public servant salaries were lower in exchange for generous pension and benefits packages. Christie’s efforts in tackling the unions are one of the few things he has accomplished for the taxpayers. The proposal about having NJ state pensioners paying NJ income tax even if the relocate makes a lot of sense.
Why should a pensioner pay income tax on a pension and he is not in he state to receive the services that they are paying for.
#4 really, you should check your facts before you post things that are FALSE!
1) many part timers really rape the system by loading up on hours at the ends of their careers -FALSE
The only way a part-time employee can get more hours is with the approval of the employer. The employee can not just decide on their own to “load up on hours”, that is just a load of horse manure!!!
2) as well as full timers and their OT -FALSE
The state of N.J. Pension system specifically excludes ALL overtime income from being calculated into the employees pension
you need to make a distinction between public employees and private employees
Ok James, how’s this….
#4 really, you should check your facts before you post things that are FALSE!
1) many part timers really rape the system by loading up on hours at the ends of their careers –FALSE
The only way a part-time government employee can get more hours is with the approval of the employer. The government employee can not just decide on their own to “load up on hours”, that is just a load of horse manure!!!
2) as well as full timers and their OT –FALSE
The state of N.J. Pension system specifically excludes ALL overtime income from being calculated into the government employees pension.