Pensions push taxes higher across the country
By Jeannette Neumann, Wall Street Journal
Cities across the nation are raising property taxes, largely citing rising pension and health-care costs for their employees and retirees.
In Pennsylvania, the township of Upper Moreland is bumping up property taxes for residents by 13.6% in 2011. Next door the city of Philadelphia this year increased the tax 9.9%. In New York, Saratoga Springs will collect 4.4% more in property taxes in 2011; Troy will increase taxes by 1.9%.
Property-tax increases aren’t unusual, in part because the taxes are among the main sources of local revenue. But officials say more and larger increases are taking hold. “This year we have seen a dramatic increase in our cities and towns having to increase property taxes” for pensions and other expenses, said Jack Garner, executive director of the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities.
Local officials and government workers say a confluence of factors is driving the increases, including the need to make up for staggering investment losses from the financial crisis and rising costs as more workers retire. In addition, benefit increases promised in flush times are coming due as revenue flounders, and some cities have skipped payments to their pension funds over the years.
Let the cities go bankrupt and the investors in their muni bonds get a haircut.m
The investors should have known that many municipalities are bad investments.
I know – I left Morgan Stanley because of the system is built on lie.
So when Warren Buffet says – but you got to protect the investors remember – he is one of the biggest self dealing snakes out there – special deals from the government are his MO.
Home values will continue to be effected for the rest of my life.
Pigs.
In my last post I wish I had proof read it but you get the point.
THIS IS A CON JOB BY
Crony Capitalism
Government in bed with big corporations creating slaves out of the populace. Regulating competition out of business.
Look how much the two sides screwed up health insurance. Government regulates every aspect of insurance and cook it up with the big companies and put the screws to the little guys with regulations and law suites.
Constitutional Convention is the way to fix the country.
Otherwise the politicians will continue to destroy it.
Let the PEOPLES CONVENTION begin!
“Government in bed with big corporations creating slaves out of the populace. Regulating competition out of business.”
All Hail Vail! (And their bought and sold city council.)
I encourage all to read Jeff Munson’s fine piece of journalism “City in turmoil?” in the local monthly paper. A real eye opener for those who see the 2 billion dollar Vail Corp. as anything less than a monster plundering our natural resource, Heavenly.
PubWorkTV: By hiding behind a moniker, aren’t you still espousing that Morgan Stanley ideal?
That was tongue-in-cheek about that one-sided story in the MT. News, right?
Do you really think Heavenly is doing anything worse to the environment than any other ski resort? Are you a skier? If you go there for any reason or to any resort, then your words and actions are in conflict.
Most of the land ski resorts operate on in California are USFS owned. THis means the people own it. So where were you when the Heavenly Master Plan was being reviewed by USFS?
But none of this has to do with pensions. What we need is elected officials who will end this give-away of public funds. Look at the real journalism on this site — the other pension story — to see how locals are robbing taxpayers because the people “we” elected gave away the key to the safe.
Tom Richardson:
“Crony Capitalism” and Vail Corp.’s hand in this City’s politics are the subjects of my rant, (and nothing to do with the environment).
Perhaps if the last sentence read, “…a monster plundering our community’s greatest financial resource, Heavenly.”, I wouldn’t mislead anyone else into thinking that this was somehow an environmental issue.
Regarding the local monthly’s article “City in turmoil”, (page 10, December issue); a “one sided story”, surely. However, If it’s ‘tongue in cheek’, as you mention, then the jokes on me.