Posted on 11/23/2016 9:54:13 AM PST by Lorianne
In testimony to state regulators, Dallas reported that a Police & Fire pensions request for $1.1 billion would wipe out the city’s entire general fund.
Picture the next major American city to go bankrupt. What springs to mind? Probably not the swagger and sprawl of Dallas.
But there was Dallas’s mayor, Michael S. Rawlings, testifying this month to a state oversight board that his city appeared to be “walking into the fan blades” of municipal bankruptcy.
“It is horribly ironic,” he said.
Indeed. Dallas has the fastest economic growth of the nation’s 13 largest cities. Its streets hum with supersize cars and its skyline bristles with cranes. Its mayor is a former chief executive of Pizza Hut. Hundreds of multinational corporations have chosen Dallas for their headquarters, most recently Jacobs Engineering, which is moving to low-tax Texas from pricey Pasadena, Calif.
But under its glittering surface, Dallas has a problem that could bring it to its knees, and that could be an early test of America’s postelection commitment to safe streets and tax relief: The city’s pension fund for its police officers and firefighters is near collapse and seeking an immense bailout.
Over six recent weeks, panicked Dallas retirees have pulled $220 million out of the fund. What set off the run was a recommendation in July that the retirees no longer be allowed to take out big blocks of money. Even before that, though, there were reports that the fund’s investments — some placed in highly risky and speculative ventures — were worth less than previously stated.
What is happening in Dallas is an extreme example of what’s happening in many other places around the country. Elected officials promised workers solid pensions years ago, on the basis of wishful thinking rather than realistic expectations. Dallas’s troubles have become more urgent because its plan rules let some retirees take big withdrawals.
Now, the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System has asked the city for a one-time infusion of $1.1 billion, an amount roughly equal to Dallas’s entire general fund budget but not even close to what the pension fund needs to be fully funded. Nothing would be left for fighting endemic poverty south of the Trinity River, for public libraries, or for giving current police officers and firefighters a raise.
Railroad too, IIRC?
If you think that the California invasion of Austin has not changed the way business is done, and the culture, you are willfully ignoring the facts.
I don’t think it is Californians, per se, that are causing the problem. But, their attitudes and culture are beginning to cause issues.
This is nothing new. You should look at how California treated kids from Texas and Oklahoma during the dust bowl regarding this accents.
You are correct, it was the County of Galveston that opted out...thanks!
That was Galveston, and yes, they did extremely well.
No, I completely agree. I used to go to Austin to do business with Applied Materials (a Silicon Valley Company). They brought their “ideas” to Austin, no question. Austin is more unlike Texas than most of the rest of the state, just like San Francisco isn't really representative of most of California. But I also have a good friend who moved to Austin to take a senior position with Tracor some years ago. He had a lot of money, relatively speaking from the sale of his home here, so he built a big place “up on the hill” with the UTA professors. After seven years, his wife said she would not stay one more minute in Texas, as their “neighbors” had routinely ostracized them because they weren't “real Texans.”You don't find that kind of bigotry here in California, just saying.
“The trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”
Perhaps it's because they were still acting like Californians, rather than Texans.
I have friends from all over the country. One couple is Canadian, and only became US citizens a few years ago. But, they are as conservative as any friends I have.
Others are Hillary supporters from the northeast US. I don't spend much time with them.
“Perhaps it’s because they were still acting like Californians, rather than Texans.”
That’s a load of crap and you know it! These are people who were California transplants themselves. They are as nice and outgoing as you could imagine and they are churchgoers to boot. They worked to help to get their next door neighbor elected to the school board and as soon as the election was over the neighbors would nearly not speak. Face it, most Texas is a basackwards place where this nonsense about “being Texan” is pervasive. Perhaps in the major cities, which have been invaded by Liberals it isn’t, but in “country Texas” the cow$hit is deep.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.