The Belly of the Beast: Springfield and the Pension Crisis

By on June 23, 2015   /   Illinois, Latest, News Releases, Pension Reform  

View as PDF Springfield—Taxpayers United of America (TUA) today released the results of its updated study of the top pensioners of Sangamon County government, Sangamon County government schools, Lincoln Land Community College, University of Illinois at Springfield, and Springfield municipal government. Also updated were the state pensions for retired judges (JRS), legislators (GARS), and state employees (SERS).
“Well over 1,000 of the Sangamon area government pensioners receive multi-million dollar lifetime pension payouts,” said Jared Labell, TUA operations director. “The pensioners’ average personal investment is only about 5.5% of the lifetime payouts, leaving taxpayers on the hook for funding the majority of the unsustainable government pension system.”
“While taxpayers struggle to make their property tax payments, working well beyond retirement age, these government pensioners enjoy gold-plated retirements beginning at the age of 58, on average. Pensioners collect millions of dollars from taxpayers well after their government employment has ended, and today we are seeing the results: current tax revenue is directed toward funding the behemoth pension system first and foremost, before other services and present needs.”
“Illinois has one critical budgetary problem: the government pension system. We need to stop overcomplicating things and simply solve that problem if we want to see Illinois flourish.”
“It is unconscionable that the state budget battle continues in the light of the dire economic situation Illinois faces,” continued Labell. “The battle over the budget wouldn’t exist if the power brokers didn’t ensure the perpetuation of the pension problem with an amendment to protect it from sane, necessary reform. This includes the legislators who create such laws and the judges who make any rulings on its legal challenges. Unless real reforms are made soon, the taxpayers of Illinois will merely be funding their own funerals.”
“Just take a look at the stunning pensions these judges and legislators get. It is no wonder that they protect the government pension cabal without hesitation.”
“Arthur Berman retired from the General Assembly and rakes in a cool $228,960 annually! His estimated lifetime payout is about $3.7 million. His stake in that excessive payout? About 3%.”
“Judge Tobias Barry is currently getting $204,083 in annual pension payments. Fortunately, he didn’t retire until 82, so his estimated lifetime payout is only a humble $2.3 million.
“There are now 12,154 Illinois government pensions of more than $100,000 and 85,893 totaling more than $50,000 each annually! Those are staggering numbers, considering that the taxpayers who fund these pensions get an average Social Security ‘pension’ of about $15,000 a year.”
“Retired from U of I Springfield, Aaron Shures enjoys an annual taxpayer funded pension of $115,332. Over a normal lifetime, he will get about $6.4 million in pension payments because he retired at the age of 51. His personal investment in his rich pension is about 3% or $193,624.”
“Ball Chatham CUSD5 retiree, Richard J. Voltz retired at 57 and his current annual pension is $167,685. He will collect about $5.6 million while he only contributed $206,988 of his own money. That’s a 3.7% investment in his own multi-million dollar retirement payout!”
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“Although we did not support or endorse SB 1 as any kind of pension reform, as it did more harm than good, the unanimous ruling of the Illinois Supreme Court clearly illustrates the limited options available to solve the pension crisis…and the answers are not tax increases,” said Labell.
“A constitutional amendment that is fair to taxpayers, as well as government employees, must be approved in 2016 to deal with Illinois’ insolvent government pension system. In the meantime, if the Illinois General Assembly increased individual government employee contributions to their own gold-plated pensions by 10 percentage points, it would save taxpayers about $150 billion over the next 35 years – about $4.3 billion a year – and save the State of Illinois from financial ruin. If all else fails, there is always the option of approving legislation allowing municipalities, government school districts, and other taxing districts in Illinois to begin the process of filing and restructuring under Chapter 9 bankruptcy.”
“For every day that the political class refuses to solve the government pension crisis, they are gambling with the future of Illinois, and doing so with your tax dollars.”
*Lifetime estimated pension payout includes 3% compounded COLA and assumes life expectancy of 85 (IRS Form 590).

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McHenry County: More Than 1,000 Government Pension Millionaires

By on May 19, 2015   /   Illinois, Latest, Pension Reform, Taxpayer Alert  

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CHICAGO—Taxpayers United of America (TUA) today released the results of their updated study of the top pensioners of McHenry County, McHenry County government schools, McHenry County College, and McHenry and Crystal Lake municipalities.
“Well over 1,000 of the McHenry area government pensioners receive multi-million dollar lifetime pension payouts,” stated Jim Tobin, TUA president. “The pensioners’ average personal investment is only about 5.5% of the lifetime payouts.”
“While taxpayers struggle to make their property tax payments, working well beyond retirement age, these government pensioners enjoy lavish, gold-plated retirements beginning on average at the age of 58.”
“This is not a retirement system or a safety net for ‘the poor public servants’ who have given their lives to public service. This is theft. This is immoral and unethical theft of taxpayers’ hard-earned money to be given to the political elite to do absolutely nothing.”
“There are now 12,154 Illinois government pensions over $100,000 and 85,893 over $50,000 annually! Those are staggering numbers considering the taxpayers who fund these pensions get an average Social Security pension of about $15,000 a year.”
“Retired HSD 155 government employee, Michael E. Mills enjoys an annual taxpayer funded pension of $197,517. Over a normal lifetime, he will get about $6.5 million in pension payments. His personal investment in his rich pension is about 3.8% or $250,626.”
“Crystal Lake Park District retiree, Kirk R. Reimer retired at 55 and his current annual pension is $117,504.
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“Although we did not support or endorse SB 1 as any kind of pension reform, as it did more harm than good, the unanimous ruling of the Illinois Supreme Court clearly illustrates the limited options available to solve the pension crisis…and the answers are not tax increases!”
“A constitutional amendment that is fair to taxpayers, as well as government employees, must be approved next year. In the meantime, if the Illinois General Assembly increased individual government employee contributions to their own gold-plated pensions by 10 percentage points, it would save taxpayers about $150 billion over the next 35 years, or about $4.3 billion a year, and save the State of Illinois from financial ruin. If all else fails, there is always the option of moving forward with legislation to begin the process of allowing municipalities and government schools to file for Chapter 9.”
“Taxpayers must pursue these three paths forward to avoid disastrously higher taxes in the immediate future.”
*Lifetime estimated pension payout includes 3% compounded COLA and assumes life expectancy of 85 (IRS Form 590).

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Illinois General Assembly Working to Steal the Rest of Your Money

By on May 11, 2015   /   Illinois, Latest, Pension Reform, Taxpayer Alert  

View as PDF Chicago – Taxpayers United of America (TUA) urges Illinois General Assembly to defeat HB 3695, which calls for a new property tax earmarked for funding the Chicago government pensions.
Summary of HB 3695 – Amends the School Code. Provides that a separate tax shall be levied by the Chicago Board of Education for the purpose of making an employer contribution to the Public School Teachers’ Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago, at the rate of 0.26%; requires the proceeds from this separate tax to be paid directly to the Pension Fund. Makes a corresponding reduction in the rate limitation for the tax for general educational purposes. Effective immediately.
“We have written a letter to the State Senate, urging them to vote against this new property tax,” stated TUA president, Jim Tobin.
“You can take one look at the Chicago teacher pensions and see that any effort to take even more from taxpayers to fund the outrageous and excessive Chicago government school pensions is not only irresponsible, but immoral.”
View CPS Top 200 Pensions
“Whether you live in Chicago or not, it is critical that you take action and contact your state senator and insist they vote against this bill. Today it is only Chicago, but it won’t take long for union thugs to demand the same kind of new property tax for every school district in the state.”
“There isn’t an educated person who doesn’t understand that Illinois is in dire financial shape and adding any new taxes will be detrimental to the entire state.”
“This is clearly an attempt to prop up the failing pension system at any cost to taxpayers – even if you have to lose your home to do it. There are too many homeowners struggling to make the country’s second highest property tax payments at the current rate. How many will be forced out of their homes if the property taxes are driven up even further?”
“Although this legislation has been stated to be ‘highly partisan’, two Republicans are among the sponsors of this attempt to steal the rest of your money. Be sure to let Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R – Rockford) and Rep. David Harris (R – Mount Prospect) know that you won’t be sending them back to Springfield if they continue to sell us out for the corrupt pension cabal. Democratic sponsors of the new property tax include Sen. William Delgado (D – Chicago), Sen. Heather Steans (D – Chicago), Sen. Don Harmon (D – Oak Park), and Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D – Maywood).”
“Please, no matter where you live in Illinois, call your state senator and demand they vote no on HB 3695. The Chicago union thugs are counting on the rest of the state not to take action because they think it doesn’t affect you. Let’s show them that we are smarter than that.”
Click here to find your General Assembly contact information.

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