Posted on 09/19/2010 6:29:27 AM PDT by Libloather
Retirement perks cost towns millions
Government officials add thousands to their pensions, as suburbs face budget woes
By Joseph Ryan and Joe Mahr, Tribune reporters
6:05 a.m. CDT, September 17, 2010
Lax pension rules are costing suburban taxpayers millions of dollars by allowing job perks and hefty pay hikes to inflate retirement checks for local leaders, the Tribune has found.
In Glencoe, a free Jeep, bonuses and other perks to an outgoing parks director cost local taxpayers an extra $350,000.
Joliet officials literally wrote pension spiking into the employee handbook, costing taxpayers there nearly $500,000 extra on the outgoing city manager alone.
And in Evanston, four administrators cashed in their careers' worth of unused sick and vacation time in a way that helped boost their pensions, costing an extra $1.2 million in pension payments.
Even with governments struggling to provide basic services, the tab for inflated pensions grows as Illinois does not take on reforms other states adopted years ago. Those with the power to stop it, including local officials and statewide lobbying groups, have the most to gain from the status quo. And the Tribune found many have — significantly.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Redistribution?
No, theft.
You know it’s bad when the federal retirement system looks reformed in comparison.
Revolution time is here.
Our government and their employee unions are literally robbing us blind for their own personal enrichment. They are criminal thugs, and we are letting them get away with it day after day.
This has been going on for years. The press just ignores it.
You know that the jig is nearly up on this stuff when even the Chicago Tribune starts reporting on it.
I hate to bring up a possible judicial solution, but what about a lawsuit against officials who game the system to benefit their own penions based on breach of fiduciary duty?
A judicial decision could just as well go the other way. Technically, these people are following the law—they are just doing it in such a way as to milk the system. Still, that may be morally wrong, but legally permissible. As a result, a judge could rule that they be paid regardless. Then things get really, really interesting.
I have always felt that government pension plans should be no better than the average industry within a state. After all, government gets its money from industry and the people within a state.
Too bad Colonel McCormick isn't still running things.
Legal is one thing. Complying with a fiduciary duty is another. A fiduciary can act within the law but still violate his duty as a fiduciarly thereby incurring civil liability to those to whom he owes his duty. Fiduciary duty consists of a duty of loyalty and a duty of care. If an elected official games the system to obtain excessive compensation, is he not violating both the duty of loyalty and the duty of care? And if the entity will not sue him for his breach of duty, why not a class action derivative suit on behalf of the citizens?
That may cover a few individuals (at the top), but LOTS of public employees game their last 1-2 years to spike their pensions. I doubt that they have a fiduciary responsibility.
True.
In addition to common sense..there obviously is a shortage of
tar and feathers in a certain Illinois town...
How can “pay czar” Feinberg allow this to happen?
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