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.
Findings from TUA’s pension project on Youngstown, Ohio, are featured in this article at WKBN 27 First News.
A grassroots, non-profit organization is exposing the top salaries and pensions for government employees in Youngstown.
The group Taxpayers United of America made a stop in Youngstown on Tuesday during its Ohio tour. The group said it’s letting the taxpayers know where their dollars are going for these multi-million dollar pension payouts.
The state of Ohio does not release the actual pension amounts, so the organization released estimates based on salaries.
“The top of our list we have Wendy Webb. She has an estimated total pension payout of over $4.2 million. Charles Sammarone of Youngstown, Ohio, government employee. I see the mayor incumbent, $3.5 million,” said Christina Tobin, vice president of Taxpayers United of America.
The group is urging Governor John Kasich and the General Assembly to release pension figures to taxpayers.
For more information on Taxpayers United of America, click here.
