TUA’s call for Ohio Gov. John Kasich to release pension data was featured in this Lima News article.
CHICAGO – Ohio Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio General Assembly are being asked to set the standard for transparency by releasing information about their government pension.
“Ohio is one of a few states that interprets its Open Records Act exception regarding personal information to include pension payments. But as long as taxpayers fund the pensions, they have a right to review them,” said Christina Tobin, the vice presiden of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).
TUA was in Ohio last week, releasing pension estimates for government employees. The first stop was the Ohio Capitol to hand-deliver letters to Kasich and lawmakers that uged them to change the culture of secrecy surrounding government employee pension benefit amounts.
“In order to have the critical dialogue about meaningful pension reforms, Ohioans need to know exactly what kind of lavish pensions their tax dollars are providing for government employees.” said Tobin.
She sees no reason for the numbers to be kept from the public.
“They can champion a culture of transparency to ensure honesty and integrity through unlimited public review of all taxpayer funds.” said Tobin.
CHICAGO – Taxpayers United of America (TUA) Vice President, Christina Tobin, called on Ohio Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio General Assembly to set the standard for transparency by releasing its government pension data.
“I have written letters to Gov. Kasich and the members of the General Assembly, urging them to change the culture of secrecy surrounding government employee pension benefit amounts. They can champion a culture of transparency to ensure honesty and integrity through unlimited public review of all taxpayer funds.”
“TUA was in Ohio last week, releasing pension estimates for government employees. The first stop was the Ohio Capitol to hand-deliver the letters. TUA held press conferences in Columbus, Youngstown, Toledo and Cleveland releasing pension estimates for state and local government employees.”
“Ohio is one of a few states that interprets its Open Records Act exception regarding personal information to include pension payments. But as long as taxpayers fund the pensions, they have a right to review them.”
“In order to have the critical dialogue about meaningful pension reforms, Ohioans need to know exactly what kind of lavish pensions their tax dollars are providing for government employees.”
“I have asked Governor Kasich and the 129th Ohio General Assembly to take the lead in making Ohio above reproach through complete transparency with public funds.”
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Findings from TUA’s pension project on Toledo, Ohio, are featured in this story from WTOL 11.
TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) – A group called Taxpayers United of America was in Toledo Thursday pushing for reform in the way Ohio handles public employee pensions.
The group says employee pension information should be made public. They also want the state to end defined benefit pensions for new hires and increase contributions for employee pensions and healthcare premiums.
Since pension information is not made public, the group says they have estimated pensions for Toledo and Lucas County employees. The group claims top earners in the area stand to collect more than $4.7 million in the form of a pension upon retirement. They also say dozens of city employees have pensions higher than $3 million.
Taxpayers United for America representatives say they are concerned about the pattern because the current pension system is unsustainable.
“The system will collapse,” said Raeann McNeilly of Taxpayers United. “There will be no money in the system for hardworking people who have looked forward their whole lives to living off the benefits they were promised. They just won’t be there.”
City of Toledo spokesperson Jen Sorgenfrei says there are flaws in the methodology Taxpayers United of America used to estimate city employee pensions figures. Toledo Mayor Michael Bell has supported eliminating city pickup of employees’ pension shares.
