Here Comes the Pain?
- It's possible that Chicken Little was right.
Next year, Chicago must come up with a state-mandated $590 million increase in its contribution to police and fire pension funds. A Crain's analysis of the city's tax and budget options shows that payment could lead to the highest commercial property tax rate in the nation and still leave the city needing to make millions of dollars in spending cuts that could decimate many services.
In the next few months, state legislators will be asked to restructure the city's pension obligations. But if they balk or the courts reject their fixes, Chicago will be faced with some politically toxic and economically perilous decisions.
The Detroit scenario took years, decades in fact, to reach the depths we see today. Chicago could accomplish it in short order by destroying the commercial base with massive tax increases while also jacking up the residential property taxes.
Labels: city politics
posted by SCC at 12:04 AM
133 Comments:
yet no money will be put aside this year!
Rahmbalinna will wait to the final day to cry about paying his share.
He will have his Suntimes hacks spout off about about pension are wrong.
The alder-thieves have had 2 years to put money away for this and guess what they did?
ZILCH
Rant off
Love the way everyone pretends no one could have seen this coming the past couple of years.
Rahm, Eddie Burke, and the other clowns on the City Council are just now suddenly realizing this might be a problem?
B.S. They knew this was coming for years. They just didn't lift a finger to do anything about it and tried to ignore it until now.
as long as the free lunches, haircuts, backpacks and mile long list of freebies are still handed out it will be worth it.
I think that is what is behind all the"leases" of the infrastructure.
Bankruptcy protection.
Collapse it, eliminate" legacy costs" and restructure the rest with the jewels safe.
The people who run this country no longer care about this country.
We are so fucked...
I really wish I had maxed out in Deferred when I was younger.
On the bright side, maybe I'll qualify for one of those Obama phones!
CPD pensions are modest compared to NYPD, LAPD, Suburban and ISP
The "crisis" is due to a failure to properly fund the pension and to instead spend that money elsewhere for example on DePauls basketball stadium.
So now the City will be forced to make up for its past mistakes.
Eliminate all current retiree pensions and any future pensions for active un-exempts with 20 or more years seniority. Problem solved.
P.S. sorry no contribution refunds.
Related OT: DIVVY (the evil blue parking (spot) thieves) has declared bankruptcy! The brainiac consultant yuppie asshole who sold this idea to 5th Floor is long gone - good guess is that he'll get the blame...
The corrupt machine needs to go. So very frustrating.
NAC
PS Stay Safe out there.
I was too tired to try to decipher Crain's numbers yesterday, but has anyone checked their dollar amounts? Did they use Rahm's overdramatized 'double' the property tax numbers, or did they use the correct 'double' one specific PORTION of the property tax number?
The city needs to stop all the BS pet projects and reckless spending. There are countless stories of waste. Was Maggie Daley Park necessary? 200 million on Malcolm X college? The list is endless.
Maybe we should consider legal action against the former mayor and those assholes on the city council who were supposed to have a fiduciary responsibility
Maybe then the gullible public will realize that the city doesn't need 50 fucking alderman and their six figure salaries on top of the useless and redundant county government!
Be sure that is exactly with city leadership will do (jack up taxes). Nor will they make any meaningful cuts in the millions that are wasted, given to the needy class and/or go into the pockets of corrupt service providers. It should prove interesting.
News Flash: " We ain't gettin' what was promised" Everything from here on out is a chirade (sp?)
Rahm aint gonna raise no property taxes or pay the half billion due this year... We are going to take him to court, lose, and end up paying more towards a shit pension probably on par with social security) and getting less than what was promised than the day when you took this dead end job. The sheeple will just sit back, complain, and eat it.... It's what we do!!! It's over before it begins!!
Get ready to work til you die (which will probably be younger than avg).
And the quickest way the politicians are going to divert the blame from them is by pointing the finger at US. Police & Fire.
The graft & corruption wont come out. The total mismanagement of funds will be kept quite.
BUT THOSE GREEDY FUCKING COPS AND FIREMEN!!!!
Glad I left CPD 8 years ago....I am now working in a smaller town, less BS, Less work....thank you lord
This problem lies directly at the feet of Shortshanks and the rest of the thieving politicians who chose not to invest their required share into our pension funds.
Why aren't these pricks being sued or threatened with jail time?
Instead Rahm wants to put the blame and pain on the common folk.... it's easier that way.
the mayor is already ahead of this using the tif money for cps it's for the children not bills the city owes.The city is broke.We need to spend money on parks,stadiums,river walks,bike lanes, business that his friends own.The public employees are not his friends.They are greedy, just because they paid their fair doesn't mean the City has to.
All the years they stole from the pension, the Vanecko/ Davis 60+ million theft! not putting into the fund while coppers put in over $300.00 every paycheck without fail! Eddie Burke and rahm have multi-millions not counting what they have hidden. But the coppers who sacrificed time with family, days offs their lives dealing with animals and felons on a daily basis, nope no pension for them. Note rahm if you default this city will shut down watch what united police can and will do!
Anonymous SCC Fan said...
We are so fucked...
I really wish I had maxed out in Deferred when I was younger.
On the bright side, maybe I'll qualify for one of those Obama phones!
1/21/2014 12:34:00 AM
Maybe you can get 4 or 5 Bama phones, like they have on the west side.
Maybe there are secret seminars in the ghetto that teach you how to get free housing, food stamps, etc. If I hear of any I'll be sure to post!
Burn your House It's worthless
Anonymous said...
Related OT: DIVVY (the evil blue parking (spot) thieves) has declared bankruptcy! The brainiac consultant yuppie asshole who sold this idea to 5th Floor is long gone - good guess is that he'll get the blame...
The corrupt machine needs to go. So very frustrating.
NAC
PS Stay Safe out there.
1/21/2014 12:43:00 AM
The operator of the Citibike deal in NY has yet to make a profit. Losing money....yet all is good according to Bloomie!
Speaking of NY, has there been an uptick in crime since 'stop and frisk' got clobbered?
When I questioned state senator Mulroe about why the city wasn't held to making the necessary pension contributions, he told me it was a deal with Donahue in return for 55 health care and other contract considerations.
He told me this about 2 years ago at an 'appeal your taxes' event on the north side.
They knew this was coming for years.
================
More like decades. Everyone involved including the unions who negotiated the contracts knew from day one that a lot of this stuff was not sustainable. They knew with absolute certainty that it was eventually going to collapse.
My dad is retired Detroit Fire Dept. Just got notified they he had to choose a new health care option. Now will have to pay about $120/month for he and my mom. Forgot to ask him how much of an increase it was. I don't think he was paying anything at all before. He's one of the successes, retired 41 years ago.
My mom worked for GM, lost all the equity in her stock, her pension and HER health care.
If you're young enough, it would be a good idea to save as much as possible considering that Chicago could go the way of Detroit....and if your spouse's company were to go under, it's a double whammy. It's hard to set the money aside, but it's worth it.
Somehow, on their meager salaries, through saving and wise investments, they've still got about $600,000...and that's after losing about 30% of their portfolio when Enron tanked.
It sucks that we all may have diminished or no pensions, but having to live on cat food isn't the only option. They were disciplined in their saving and it paid off.
Open casino, legalize marijuana. Problem solved!
Even better is the fact the company the city used to launch its rental bike program filed for bankruptcy. OUTFUCKINGSTANDING. Another pay it forward deal. Who's got the connections in Canada?
You're telling me not one financial inquiry into a new company couldn't tell they were gonna go Belly up in 6 mos.
The city tells the world they don't have the money to pay to fire and police pensions. But no one has anything to say about the other projects that we don't need just yet ie. an in door basketball arena for a private college.
i went to the union meeting they had this summer it was a 911 reginal meeting for city employees held ascme at 4 diffrent sites in chicago .and u all need to read the city of chicago 2014 budget page 85 it tells u what rhams plan are for our pensions BUT WHAT ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK WAS AND THE BIG UNION BOSSES SAID IT TOO IS HE WANTS TO FREEZE OUR COLA RAISES WHERE IT WILL TAKE 10 YEArs to get a raise after we retire.
i forgot to add to the last comment NOW THATS THE REAL PAIN
Tax the rich. Tax everyone, people don't pay nearly enough taxes.
Why should the police, fire, teachers have to pay double or triple for their pension when Ex Mayor Daley never paid into the pension fund like he was supposed to .why doesn't Andy Shaw investigate why Daley never paid into the pension fund
And daley keeps teaching rahm how to fiddle.
This is not a problem for Ed Burke or Mike Madigan's law firms. They will reap millions for their downtown commercial property owner clients desperate to reduce their assessed values in order to reduce their property taxes. Adversity creates opportunity.
Didn't the city already have a law that said they would fund the pension fund?
We'll see if they obey this law. And if they don't then we will make another law on top of the two laws already in place.
That will show them!! Hmfff
In 2008 I posted on this board that the pension fund would be broke--2018-2022. Had some comments back, mostly that I was crazy, state guarantees, plenty of money and all of that nonsense.
Get ready for some cuts.
You can talk politics, etc.-- it is all about the math.
Stay safe and be prepared.
old retired guy
Goodbye democratic run Detroit by the lake, hello conservative Indiana, I can't get out of here quick enough.
Queue the poster who rambles on and on, throws in a "BURP" or "FART" and concludes with that quote on how "police are the problem" that is coupled with the paranoid perception that some entity is out to get him/her with often noting that "once we fix them" all the 'problems' will terminate.That ranting is worse than the 1070 nonsense.
no pension=no residency!
For 21 years I have listened and read and read on how they did this to us and they did that to us. But never any talk about how WE let them. Never any talk on how we will band together like a huge bunch of brothers and sisters. No we bend over and beg for it dry. We do nothing to fight back. NOTHING?
F,, K FOP. They arent even a union. We are 8500 strong and we get pushed around by 50 aldergoofs and a balarina. How fucking pathetic. There is a sure fire way to get 9.5'sattention. But everytime I have attempted to post, it mysteriously didnt make it. GOD BE WITH US.
Markets More: Detroit Casinos Gambling Bankruptcy
Detroit's Path Into And Out Of Bankruptcy Is Paved With Casino Money
Reuters
KAREN PIEROG AND JOSEPH LICHTERMAN, Reuters
http://www.businessinsider.com/detroit-bankruptcy-casinos-2014-1
I totally regret buying any property in this town! Im gonna throw the keys on the counter and get the hell out of here!
The little asshole will just raise our taxes and blame the PD and FD in the press......
But he has 55 million (?) for Maggie Daley park and 100 million for DePaul????
The Detroit scenario took years, decades in fact, to reach the depths we see today. Chicago could accomplish it in short order by destroying the commercial base with massive tax increases while also jacking up the residential property taxes.
*************
The "Chicago scenario" is going to be a choice between forcing Chicago into bankruptcy or starting by forcing commercial residents to pay what they owe rather than getting to operate for free in Chicago, among other "reforms" to government corruption that are necessary.
You can make no mistake on one fact, had pensioners and employees said yes to the assfucking they were about to get, the financial fuckers who orchestrated the entire theft would have gotten away scot free.
Only now that employees and pensioners have forced their hand into bankruptcy proceedings have they ensured that all stakeholders get fucked equally, which means employees and pensioners get fucked less than they were going to in the first place.
These fuckers stole from us for decades, I'll bring this city to bankruptcy before I let these cocksuckers steal from me again. Then their fucking friends are gonna take a haircut same as me.
And Emanuel will be the mayor that brought Chicago to bankruptcy, and you can bet the day after that shitsucker will be watched and sued at every turn for funneling more money to his corporate friends.
But then again, his books are cooked too, and when we bring that to light his chances of getting a job doing anything but cleaning a shitter will be nill.
what happened to the almost 2 billion sitting in the TIF slush fund? http://tifreports.com/
Raise the goddamn taxes and pay us what is owed! No more breaks for the city, pay up on your obligations. Isn't that Millenium park cost? How about maggie daley park? How about the depaul stadium?
Hey dumb asses. There isn't anyone to sue. The City contributed exactly what they were required to pay per pension law. That's the problem. The new payment is the result of FOP legislation that was passed in 2010. It's only too bad that someone didn't think of it thirty years ago. Gee, who was in office in 2010? The Citywide Team. Just sayin.
We will get F'd on our pensions, but a lot of you will still be more then happy to help Rahm by working Special and VRI. Keep it up people, the only ones you are hurting is yourselves in the long run.
If the city had balls they would suspend, for 10 years, any bullshit "beautification" projects. Infrastructure repairs and upgrades only would be allowed. That would cut spending considerably. Then, ALL monies from the speed and red light cameras would go directly into police/fire pensions to meet the mandates. All non-profits would be taxed for water, etc, at 20% of the actual bill instead of free. TIFS would be eliminated and pooled into the above mentioned infrastructure fund. Taxes would be reduced to bolster business and consumer confidence in Chicago. Sending buyers into the 'burbs and other states for their purchases is not helping. And I saved the best for last. Due to the population decline, and since police and fire have already gone through reductions and consolidations, the city council would be reduced to 35 wards. The saved monies would go into the general fund.
One thing no one has mentioned here is the new city owned gambling casino. Getting the casino up and running should be a priority for the city. The Mayor and the Governor need to stop arguing over who controls what, and get this done(the State Gaming Board should make the rules, just like it does for all the casinos in the state. Rahm wants his own Chicago gaming board). Bonds can be issued to make the pension fund payment and pay the interest with casino revenue. Why not put the new casino in the West Hall at McCormick place? It already has the infrastructure, parking, access to conventions. Im sure Building Trades would love to build a new casino from the ground up, but it would take years, and imagine the cost over-runs. Not building a new casino building from scratch would speed up the process and get the money flowing.
Do we really need two foot posts at diversey in 029
I'll bet you $ 590 mill that we will never see one penny of this money there is no intention of shoring up the pension and this moutherfucker could give a shit about what the state or the fucking court says he rahm he gonna do what ever he wants haven't you people learned this by now WE ARE FUCKED
Right now, Chicago's property tax rate is low compared to the burbs:
Chicago: 6.4%
Evergreen Park: 12.4%
Oak Lawn: 10.4
Orland Park: 9.1
Tinley Park: 1.4
News Flash: " We ain't gettin' what was promised" Everything from here on out is a chirade (sp?)
Rahm aint gonna raise no property taxes or pay the half billion due this year... We are going to take him to court, lose, and end up paying more towards a shit pension probably on par with social security) and getting less than what was promised than the day when you took this dead end job. The sheeple will just sit back, complain, and eat it.... It's what we do!!! It's over before it begins!!
Get ready to work til you die (which will probably be younger than avg).
I agree 100% I hope everyone out there understands the truth in this comment this fucking guy (mayor) isn't gonna give us shit so I'm gonna do what I have to to make as much money as I can sell my house (for a loss of course) and get the fuck out of here unfourtunately a lot of you guys can't leave and I feel for you but I'm getting the fuck outta here taking my 20 yrs 50% and I'm gone
Why won't the Shitcago media put the blame for this mess squarely where it belongs, on Daley's shoulders. He spent the money for pensions for other pet projects that made his contributers filthy rich. Comeon reports man up and earn your checks.
Anonymous said...
CPD pensions are modest compared to NYPD, LAPD, Suburban and ISP
The "crisis" is due to a failure to properly fund the pension and to instead spend that money elsewhere for example on DePauls basketball stadium.
So now the City will be forced to make up for its past mistakes.
1/21/2014 12:40:00 AM
Yes, this statement is correct. Chicago Police pensions are very modest when compared to other large cities.And, we do not get a cost of living increase that is compounded. The recent pension law signed by Quinn, if it would be applied to Chicago police, would actually give us an increase in pension. Daley drove our pension into the ground and now it needs to be saved and it will, but it will be on the backs of the working and the retired. Eliminate pensions for alderman which are a part time job. Eliminate pensions for city employees and put then on social security and 401K and end the early retirements. This goes for all trade people who retire with pensions much larger then the police and fire and who earn more money during their working lives and then go into early retirement.
How about not spend $490 MILLION on the damn blue line to make it go a measly 10 minutes faster to downtown. And spend that money towards our pension??!!?? That leaves us a bit short but I'm sure we could scrape up a few hundred million out of Rahmmy boys rainy day cookie jar.
The city ain't broke and Rahm is full of shit. Quit believing his bullshit. Last month he decided to put aside $490 million dollars to renovate the CTA Blue line. Did everyone forget about that shit? How does he have a half a billion dollars for that garbage but he's required to put that money into our pension he's "broke"? Rahm is more full of shit than Daley was.
I spoke with ald Zalewski @ a local OTB, he mentioned that if the police & fire want a secure pension... They should run for alderman! Way too many perks to mention for a part time job. Really?
So the DIVVY bike supplier filed bankruptcy . . . Uhhh, didn't anyone in the finance department check on the financial strength of the company BEFORE allowing them to install hundreds of the racks on city streets, allowing them to use hundreds of parking spaces that we probably have to pay the meter company for, and allowing rahm to spend millions on bike lanes conveniently just before he inked the divvy deal! A two minute internet search would have shown that the company was on shaky ground when Montreal had to bail them out financially a couple years ago. It would have also revealed that bike share programs don't work. Just look at London's program that started collapsing on itself as soon as it started. They now pay as much to ride a bike as they do the bus!
Honestly, does anyone in the ivory tower have a clue how to check past performance before betting our future on these companies and people (think our past corrupt comptroller)?
Our brain dead mayor and his fifty lemmings have got to go! No matter what color you are, black, white, brown, yellow or blue, open your eyes, see these turds in the bowl and flush them come election time!
We could solve the problem with the help of Cook County. Under Obama care everyone now has access to healthcare. The poor get the subsidy and effectively will pay nothing. That being said, we need to lease the Cook County Hospital system to a for profit company and get out of the healthcare business in Cook County. Tax dollars are already in place and those tax dollars should be used on a short path to fully fund the shortfalls of the municipalities pension systems. Obviously Cook County would be 1st, but the Chicago residents could pay down this debt without increasing property taxes. Once fully funded, all taxes associated with the Heathcare facilities could be rolled back and actually reduce the taxes of the homeowners. Other than that a city income tax with no exemptions will be the only other course. Well bankruptcy, but lets try the other route 1st.
Sgt deal sounds good now doesn't ? Great job everyone who worked to get it shot down!
News Flash: " We ain't gettin' what was promised" Everything from here on out is a chirade (sp?)
Rahm aint gonna raise no property taxes or pay the half billion due this year... We are going to take him to court, lose, and end up paying more towards a shit pension probably on par with social security) and getting less than what was promised than the day when you took this dead end job. The sheeple will just sit back, complain, and eat it.... It's what we do!!! It's over before it begins!!
Get ready to work til you die (which will probably be younger than avg).
1/21/2014 01:18:00 AM
If as you predict we are forced upon a lower quality pension, and lose the lawsuit for the lessening of benefits, what is it that you suggest we do? What are our real options other than complaining and cutting back on revenue creating activities?
I read a lot of people on this blog that state coppers will just accept lowered benefits or a shitty union president, but they never really offer real options other than the standard ones such as lawsuits and elections.
So if we lose a pension court case all the way to the Supreme Court, I'd love to hear what our opinions are.
Yes tough decision! Instead of paying the money in over the years like the city was suppose too. They took the money and spent it on other things. Now they have to by law come up with over 500 million.
Rahm wants to cry poor and claim there is no way to come up with the money stolen from the pensions and tax payers.
However they just approved funds for these projects.
1.1 Billion for Depaul University stadium.
3 Billion dollars for the Neighborhoods project. Fancy street lights, flower boxes and new fences.
7.7 Billion for infrastructure improvements which should have been getting done all along.
The city is trying to make the city workers pensions look like the cause of all the financial problems of the city.
When in fact, if the city had paid the money in as required by law all along this would not even be an issue.
However due to all the corruption and no accountability for anyone. The City has chosen to piss the money away, making a few hand picked construction companies very rich.
How come money for pensions and social security is always running out but never for welfare???
We have LINK and WIC. We have section eight and public housing. We have free phones. We have charities on top of that. Explain to me why if we are already providing food for the poor why are we feeding them at school as well? That is what the LINK and WIC money is for. There should be enough money there for them to eat breakfast and pack a lunch. What do they do in the summer, weekends and holidays, starve til dinner? Entitlement gone awry. Next they will start sending their children to school without clothes so we have to clothe them, provide hygiene etc. But if you bring this up as a problem you are the evil person who is picking on poor women and children. No one should go hungry, but no one should be without responsibility either.
Anonymous said...
Maybe we should consider legal action against the former mayor and those assholes on the city council who were supposed to have a fiduciary responsibility
1/21/2014 12:52:00 AM
You mean the same ones who sold the parking meter franchise to those out of towners and out of countriers and fucked Chicago in the process? Those assholes with that responsibility?
Interseting that the maayori is
sucking money out of every source he can and devising new ones, he will
not transfer on-hand money into
existing obligations, choosing instead to raise money by increasing
property taxes each year to the max
and devising nuisance taxes. And the
boys in Springfield and Cook County
are stripping away exemptions.
It's a shame that we are unable and or unwilling to do anything
about Rahm Emanuel's grafty behind. Get ready to write huge
checks to Joe Berrios.
Rammy and his faithful band of thieves still will not openly blame Daley democrats. Not that downstate repubs are innocent either, the largest group of public agencies and commitees of all 50 states, draining the revenues on entitlements and high speed railways, failing and refusing to pay their bills and pension obligations. Neither of the 4 GOP candidates have yet to offer an inkling to refuce gov spending or pension fixes whereas Quinn looks to cut pensions and borrow,borrow,borrow like Rahm then leave office like a Daley.
Urbs in Horto - (money for the taking)
Or they could just dip into the two billion in tif funds thst they have lying around. Oh wait, they can't because that would mean less to steal from. Why not one reporter has the balls to ask these simple questions just baffles me.
Rahm has a trick up his sleeve on this one.
This is what decades of Dumocratic leadership will get you.
Can't blame the Republicans. There aren't any!
"But we need to know if Coppers have THEIR guns registered so we know who to "contact" when we turn them out on the streets with nothing... Can't have a bunch of angry, disposessed current and former cops with guns we don't know about."
For years the city has used the T.I.F. funds as a private piggyback. The criminal lack of accountability needs to be pursued. Our unions collectively should call for a special prosecutor and make the city divulge the exact use of and justification for, the Billion Dollar stockpile.
Start by cutting the aldercreatures to 15.
If you worked a regular job before getting on the job you paid into social security. If you can accumulate 20 years of substantial earnings the social security offset provision will have little effect. What this means is if you had some quarter's on the books before govt employment, regular earnings from part time work while on, and five to ten years post retirement. Your offset will be small. This also affects your ability to claim spousal benefit of 50 percent of your spouses ss benefit. The moral of the story is accumulate ss quarters so you won't miss out on social security benefits. This along with deferred comp should help out in a worst case scenario. Talk to your investment advisor for more soecifics. If you don't have one, get one.
The government is a greedy piglet that suckles on a taxpayer’s teats until they have sore, chapped nipples.
- Ron Swanson
They have the money. They just don't want to givei it to us.
How could they possibly withstand al lawsuit. Any lawyers want to chime in?
How would a judge look at the fact that Emmanuel spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a numbered projects but refused to pay into the pension?
How is paying for a project like DePaul somehow critically important to the future well being of the city but paying your end of a pension obligation isn't ?
Ask the Daley Family to come up with the difference.
They got it.
Some day they will make a movie about all the money that extended family has stolen from the citizens of Chicago. Both legally and by every other means known to man.
The family jobs handed out and hundreds of contracts "awarded" to friends and relatives is just scratching the surface.
Over a career in politics covering decades the total has to be in the BILLIONS.
Nice job Pat Fitzgerald.
Way to catch the big fish.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
The city needs to stop all the BS pet projects and reckless spending. There are countless stories of waste. Was Maggie Daley Park necessary? 200 million on Malcolm X college? The list is endless.
1/21/2014 12:52:00 AM
Yes, Maggie Park was necessary. Maybe the new signs saying Maggie Daley weren't necessary, but the park is built on the underground garages and they were COLLAPSING, so yes, the work was necessary.
Now, if you use the other boondoggles, like the DePaul stadium, the median parks IN existing parks, the unused bike lanes in dangerous or remote locations, the new charter schools where existing schools have been shuttered, the use of TIF funds on projects TIF funds cannot be LEGALLY used for... well, then we have a discussion.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
CPD pensions are modest compared to NYPD, LAPD, Suburban and ISP
The "crisis" is due to a failure to properly fund the pension and to instead spend that money elsewhere for example on DePauls basketball stadium.
So now the City will be forced to make up for its past mistakes.
1/21/2014 12:40:00 AM
NYC pension is funded by a city income tax. ISP can be raped and pillaged by artificially inflating their income for the last year on the job, and their funding is in trouble.
Yes, the City should be forced to pay the money when it's due. If Rahm Emanuel had economized and had begun to set the money aside when he first took office, this would not be the extraordinary drain on the budget it will now become. Instead, he spent like a benevolent drunken sailor who 'forgot' he had bills due in the future. (Or, more likely, figured he'd find a way to blow them off in the future, exactly the way he's trying to do it now.)
OT: Did the former mayor pay market price rent on this expensive condo? Did the City have prior dealings with this developer?
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20140120/CRED0701/140129985/mag-mile-condo-where-daley-lived-sells-for-2-73-million?r=0663D9015245B0T
If the place sold for 2.73million, the rent had to be - what - $25,000 a month or more?
Was he comped? If so, why?
Glad I left CPD 8 years ago....I am now working in a smaller town, less BS, Less work....thank you lord
1/21/2014 01:54:00 AM
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But you still troll on the blog huh?
use tif funds,amusement tax,and future casino and video gambling revenue ti shore up pensions
But he has 55 million (?) for Maggie Daley park and 100 million for DePaul????
1/21/2014 08:31:00 AM
How dare you question Napolean's priorities!
He knows what's best for us.... and his connected friends... and his fellow slimy politicians etc.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Nothing to see here folks, move along.
These thieving politicians have been raiding the city pension funds forever and we stupid coppers let them, why ? because we believed these fools that we had watching our pension plans. many years ago there was a civilian director at the academy who was putting money into the police pension plan and when he was about to retire shit hit the fan about it. He was a Bridgeport heavyweight friend of the Daley clan. Then there was Ron Huberman who tried to do the same thing. We have only all, and I mean all of our police un ions to thank, they take our money every payday and deliver nothing.
Maybe just raise the water bill, city stickers and plate registration fees. O yea already did.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
If you worked a regular job before getting on the job you paid into social security. If you can accumulate 20 years of substantial earnings the social security offset provision will have little effect. What this means is if you had some quarter's on the books before govt employment, regular earnings from part time work while on, and five to ten years post retirement. Your offset will be small. This also affects your ability to claim spousal benefit of 50 percent of your spouses ss benefit. The moral of the story is accumulate ss quarters so you won't miss out on social security benefits. This along with deferred comp should help out in a worst case scenario. Talk to your investment advisor for more soecifics. If you don't have one, get one.
1/21/2014 01:52:00 PM
Sorry, but you just described my mother's job history and her ss offset is 40%. She loses nearly HALF her ss benefit every year. (Thank you, Dan Rostenkowski and the rich political hacks who voted for this travesty.)
Big difference between being broke and being mismanaged broke. How is Dick Daley enjoying his pension?
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Sgt deal sounds good now doesn't ? Great job everyone who worked to get it shot down!
1/21/2014 10:22:00 AM
Uh, NO.
Just like in Good Fellas, "FUCK YOU PAY ME"! I don't want to hear any fucking excuse that 9 fingered bastard has to give. Fuck you pay me....
Anonymous Anonymous said...
If the city had balls they would suspend, for 10 years, any bullshit "beautification" projects. Infrastructure repairs and upgrades only would be allowed. That would cut spending considerably. Then, ALL monies from the speed and red light cameras would go directly into police/fire pensions to meet the mandates. All non-profits would be taxed for water, etc, at 20% of the actual bill instead of free. TIFS would be eliminated and pooled into the above mentioned infrastructure fund. Taxes would be reduced to bolster business and consumer confidence in Chicago. Sending buyers into the 'burbs and other states for their purchases is not helping. And I saved the best for last. Due to the population decline, and since police and fire have already gone through reductions and consolidations, the city council would be reduced to 35 wards. The saved monies would go into the general fund.
1/21/2014 08:48:00 AM
I'd change ten years to three years, but other than that I agree with you.
There's a little money crunch in my household right now and we aren't buying the new car we wanted this year. The nine year old car will go one more year. We also aren't buying ANYTHING except the basics. It'll take most of the year, but we'll come out okay and we won't have mortgaged our kids' futures by spending money we don't have.
Why can't the City say tough times call for tough measures and we're really tightening the belt for one year (or two, or three)? At the end of the that time, we'll be leaner, smarter and our financial obligations will be cleared up?
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Queue the poster who rambles on and on, throws in a "BURP" or "FART" and concludes with that quote on how "police are the problem" that is coupled with the paranoid perception that some entity is out to get him/her with often noting that "once we fix them" all the 'problems' will terminate.That ranting is worse than the 1070 nonsense.
1/21/2014 07:51:00 AM
Yeah, but not by much......
Anonymous Anonymous said...
They knew this was coming for years.
================
More like decades. Everyone involved including the unions who negotiated the contracts knew from day one that a lot of this stuff was not sustainable. They knew with absolute certainty that it was eventually going to collapse.
1/21/2014 05:31:00 AM
Completely disagree.
1. "They knew about this for years" refers to the State law, which was passed a couple of years ago, requiring this lump sum payment into the pension fund, not whatever it is you're talking about.
2. It was perfectly sustainable. But, when the stock and real estate investments were raking in the big bucks and our pensions were well-funded, everybody thought the good times would last forever and that's when they started playing fast and loose with our money.
Anonymous said...
Glad I left CPD 8 years ago....I am now working in a smaller town, less BS, Less work....thank you lord
1/21/2014 01:54:00 AM
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But you still troll on the blog huh?
1/21/2014 03:00:00 PM
Now was that called for? Find something worthwhile to bitch about, other than having an ex CPD still interested in what's going on.
You're MEAN!
"Anonymous said...
News Flash: " We ain't gettin' what was promised" Everything from here on out is a chirade (sp?) 1/21/2014 01:18:00 AM"
Actually, it's charade but I like your spelling better....Chi-rade!
I'll say it again -- the City of Chicago will eventually impose a city income tax.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Open casino, legalize marijuana. Problem solved!
1/21/2014 06:07:00 AM
----------------
Marijuana is not only already de facto legal in Chicago, but the city can't even collect taxes on it when cops issue "citations." What makes you think the city will be able to collect taxes when it's officially decriminalized?
To close a 590 million dollar budget it will cost every Chicagoan (2.7 million) $219 per year. A small price for the large sacrifice these officers give.
Property Tax thru the roof!
Keep voting Democrat
One Party Rule you get what you deserve
Anyone Advise Is it better to contribute to the pension or keep my money in deferred comp Im on Leave of Absence
Thoughts?
Cullerton the coward speaks, hey Johnny mike madigan passed it that the city has to pay, and your as usual going against the guy who took you to the dance coward!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/clout/chi-illinois-senate-president-chicago-pension-fix-job-1-this-year-20140121,0,5787245.story
Get rid of all the illegals , keep criminals in jail and Chicago police could do more to prevent crime.
We keep dealing with the same people.
Anyone Advise Is it better to contribute to the pension or keep my money in deferred comp Im on Leave of Absence
Thoughts?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I would do Both
Anonymous said...
Hey dumb asses. There isn't anyone to sue. The City contributed exactly what they were required to pay per pension law. That's the problem. The new payment is the result of FOP legislation that was passed in 2010. It's only too bad that someone didn't think of it thirty years ago. Gee, who was in office in 2010? The Citywide Team. Just sayin.
1/21/2014 08:47:00 AM
Really??? This problem was brought to the city's attention around 1990. Pension knew there was going to be a problem if the city did not contribute at a higher rate. This is all public knowledge. City and State chose not to act on the information. So...this had nothing to do with ANY union leadership. Just sayin'...
Open casino, legalize marijuana. Problem solved!
1/21/2014 06:07:00 AM
You know that the casino money will not be put into the pension fund. Somehow, it'll be used for other things "for the children".
Rahm is insane as well as a one-term mayor. The alderman are busy giving themselves raises across the board and the hoodlums are robbing and raping almost totally unmolested. Its another day in the neighborhood..
Anonymous Anonymous said...
When I questioned state senator Mulroe about why the city wasn't held to making the necessary pension contributions, he told me it was a deal with Donahue in return for 55 health care and other contract considerations.
He told me this about 2 years ago at an 'appeal your taxes' event on the north side.
1/21/2014 05:21:00 AM
The city has been only paying the state mandated minimum ($2 for every $1 we put in) for the last 40 years, ignoring the actuarial report that stated the city needed to put in more than the state mandated minimum. Mark Donahue and the board of directors in 2010 along with many unit and watch reps took buses to Springfield and successfully argued for the passage of legislation that would fund our pension at 90% by 2040.
I call bullshit by the above poster.
They are just setting the stage for a casino to be used as a save all, "the only thing" that will save Chicago in this politically orchestrated pension mess.
Anonymous said...
To close a 590 million dollar budget it will cost every Chicagoan (2.7 million) $219 per year. A small price for the large sacrifice these officers give.
1/21/2014 08:25:00 PM
Not sure which is more simple your math or you. How many of your 2.7 actually pay anything at all. In fact the majority receives much more then it gives.
"For years the city has used the T.I.F. funds as a private piggyback. The criminal lack of accountability needs to be pursued. Our unions collectively should call for a special prosecutor and make the city divulge the exact use of and justification for, the Billion Dollar stockpile.
1/21/2014 01:23:00 PM"
Joravsky @ The Reader has been reporting on it for years, He can definitely point them in the right directions.
Anyone Advise Is it better to contribute to the pension or keep my money in deferred comp Im on Leave of Absence
Thoughts?
1/21/2014 08:57:00 PM
Does contributing to the pension extend your time from doh? Like, if you were hired 19yrs ago, and you take a 3yr loa, but you continue to contribute to the pension, do you then have 22yrs "on the job"? If so, I'd pay into the pension to increase my pension payouts.
If it doesn't extend the time used for figuring your final pension payout, invest your money in a fund or in the market. Or buy some cheap real estate, get the rents and the tax write-off and sit on it while the market rises.
Anonymous said...
Glad I left CPD 8 years ago....I am now working in a smaller town, less BS, Less work....thank you lord
1/21/2014 01:54:00 AM
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But you still troll on the blog huh?
1/21/2014 03:00:00 PM
--
He probably 'trolls' here just to get a good laugh now and then. Lighten up. We've got NYPD and all kind of other leo's here, too, you know.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Big difference between being broke and being mismanaged broke. How is Dick Daley enjoying his pension?
1/21/2014 06:25:00 PM
Which of his three pensions are you talking about?
Or are you talking about his made-up job at the U of C, or his other made-up job at the law firm that made the parking meter deal, or his made-up board of director position at Coke, or did you mean that 'loaner' apartment he had for a year after he left office?
They knew this was coming for years.
================
More like decades. Everyone involved including the unions who negotiated the contracts knew from day one that a lot of this stuff was not sustainable. They knew with absolute certainty that it was eventually going to collapse.
1/21/2014 05:31:00 AM
I don't doubt that's true. The loss of billions in revenue exacerbates the financial problem Chicago faces with its public pension obligations. The police dept is the largest dept in the city with the largest budget. It was pretty much self sustained financially through ticket revenue for decade upon decade. Mismanagement of these funds by aldermen and the mayor over the years has contributed to the current crisis. When all the money was gone, the mayor sold one of the largest revenue makers the city has, the city parking lots and meters. It's no wonder the city cannot handle paying for a dept it never had to generate operating funds for. Cops generated the revenue that incidentally supported the CPD budget as well as many other city operations. Now all the billions of dollars the city needs is going to a company rather than the people whose taxes helped to build the garages, lots and meters. It's truly corrupt and has hurt this city big time.
I hope the citizens of this city realize that the police department is not and has never been a line item on property tax bills. Whatever gigantic increases they are preparing to stick to us could have been avoided if the city had retained its revenue generating assets rather than selling them. The city's assets do not belong to politicians. They belong to the people.
Good! Let them make the cuts to programs which should have never been created or funded!
Right now, Chicago's property tax rate is low compared to the burbs:
Chicago: 6.4%
Evergreen Park: 12.4%
Oak Lawn: 10.4
Orland Park: 9.1
Tinley Park: 1.4
1/21/2014 09:35:00 AM
That's like comparing apples and oranges. Chicago has millions of residents as opposed to those small suburbs with thousands of residents. Of course their taxes will be more to sustain their communities. Our taxes are incredibly high considering the large number or households paying them. Plus they are inflated so that billions can be set aside to give to politically chosen special projects. I guess the city wants us to lose our homes when we retire despite having paid taxes all our careers. No pension or severely reduced pension ensures I cannot pay the taxes to live here after retirement. Maybe that's what they want.
Anonymous said...
Glad I left CPD 8 years ago....I am now working in a smaller town, less BS, Less work....thank you lord
1/21/2014 01:54:00 AM
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But you still troll on the blog huh?
1/21/2014 03:00:00 PM
Sorry, I don't see where he was "Trolling".
We see where you're an asshole, but not where he was Trolling.
Anyone Advise Is it better to contribute to the pension or keep my money in deferred comp Im on Leave of Absence
Thoughts?
Don't come back and don't contribute with your Def Comp If you do come back just pay as you go
The citations for weed are a bust but so is the way they supposedly decriminalized...
you can see what these crooks are doing and what they are setting up from a mile away.
they want to "reform" while everyone believes the nonsense about being broke. Hence the mayor's theory about a good crisis not going to waste comes into play.
but rest assured that when they cut us short on higher contributions for longer stays and smaller benefits, then, and only then, do they suddenly come up with revenue.
There's nothing about lakefront development that says the law can't be changed. Everyone says no, it's in the city charter, can't build on the lakefront.
bullshit, the number of laws changed to suit greedy mayors and their greedy friends goes up every year. Daley changed federal laws to get advances on CHA budgets to do as he pleased.
30 miles of lakefront and relatively little actually gets used. Besides, haven't you noticed how many test runs the park district has been doing with private loud music partiesin violation of "free and clear forever?"
When the city wants the windfall, the real weed reform will happen when they skip the medical marijuana bullshit and allow packaged, stamped, and taxed sale and retail distribution.
that is how they will end the illegal weed sales, reap millions from the specially licensed and permitted retailers who want to sell it, plus the tax, plus the tickets from smoking it outside of the rules of weed smoking ordinance that will follow, like the anovs for drinking or anything else.
and we haven't even started with gambling yet...
this town is sitting on billions while we worry about the peanuts and crumbs, as usual.
now go write a few more snow route tickets, suckers. Mrs. Wedding dress in the basement can't wait to get back to D.C...her other "real residence."
Anonymous said...
When I questioned state senator Mulroe about why the city wasn't held to making the necessary pension contributions, he told me it was a deal with Donahue in return for 55 health care and other contract considerations.
He told me this about 2 years ago at an 'appeal your taxes' event on the north side.
1/21/2014 05:21:00 AM
*********************************
This "deal" was a one time occurrence several years ago. The question that it gives rise to is what gave Donahue and FOP standing to make that deal. In a large sense the whole pension mess as been about greed, earlier and earlier retirement, paid health care, etc. All that would have been fine if both individual and city contribution percentages had been raised by a couple of percent. Incidentally, except for the aforementioned deal, the city has made its legally required contributions each year. You could look it up if you read the Pension Board annual reports.
They are just setting the stage for a casino to be used as a save all, "the only thing" that will save Chicago in this politically orchestrated pension mess.
One proposal stated all revenue from a casino who go to education, you know, for the children. That had to be stipulated before any talk of building a casino in Chicago could be started.
Do not let them fool you people- the city is nowhere near broke!!! Stop allowing them to use their "budget" as an excuse! Budgets are projected spending tables; if you want to see what the actual financial status of this municipality, ask to check the CAFR- Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The CAFR has ACTUAL numbers, expenditures/ credits/income revenues, unlike a budget which is only a proposal of earnings and spending. If I tell you I can't afford to pay you for a service or job because it's not within my "budget", that means nothing. I can manufacture a budget arbitrarily, but if you look at my bank statements you can see I have plenty of revenue in my account, as well as income statements. That's what the city is doing here. Those TIF funds are a large part of the hidden revenue the city does not want to disclose in their CAFR. Stop the BS and PAY YOUR BILLS rham!!!
Chicago reaped the benefits of our pension not being properly funded, so now it's time for the people of Chicago to pay those stolen benefits back by any means possible and that includes property taxes. Yeah, I know, "but that means I'll being paying also" and I already funded the pension. You are also a citizen who benefited from it being spent here. And please, no arguments about inside deals or that it was spent stupidly. There, isn't that simple. It should be paid back by Chicagoan's.
Anonymous said...
Glad I left CPD 8 years ago....I am now working in a smaller town, less BS, Less work....thank you lord
1/21/2014 01:54:00 AM
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But you still troll on the blog huh?
1/21/2014 03:00:00 PM
I agree with everyone who had something negative to say about this strokes comment. What a Jag!!!
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Queue the poster who rambles on and on, throws in a "BURP" or "FART" and concludes with that quote on how "police are the problem" that is coupled with the paranoid perception that some entity is out to get him/her with often noting that "once we fix them" all the 'problems' will terminate.That ranting is worse than the 1070 nonsense.
1/21/2014 07:51:00 AM
Amen, brother, I think he cut-and-pastes some of his narrative! You hear the same sh** over and over.
Right now, Chicago's property tax rate is low compared to the burbs
But, how does it compare once I factor in my kids school at 8K+??, since I'm not sending them to a shit public school in this city??
Chicago R.E taxes are shit compared to the burbs. Get' old bum rapping our city every turn with how hard done we are.
Our taxes are high compared to some hick town in TN.
Love the city or Leave it already.
No one is stealing our pension ! Beef-beef-beef.
Rahm will never pay the obligated money next year. He has done everything possible to put it off. Never, never, never will he pay.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Rahm will never pay the obligated money next year. He has done everything possible to put it off. Never, never, never will he pay.
1/23/2014 04:42:00 AM
But, if he has to, we can all watch his head explode, since it'll be the first time, ever, that someone tells him 'no'.
Anonymous said...
Rahm will never pay the obligated money next year. He has done everything possible to put it off. Never, never, never will he pay.
1/23/2014 04:42:00 AM
According to the statute, if Chicago doesn't pay, the State of Illinois is empowered to withold tax money that normally would go to Chicago and pay it directly to the pension funds. I hope fucking jagoff Rom doesn't pay. I want to see the governor pay money to the pension funds and watch the look on Rom's face. Unless the governor is Rowner with the $18 watch. He won't pay, he will hook up with Rom to fuck us any way they can.
Anonymous said...
Anyone Advise Is it better to contribute to the pension or keep my money in deferred comp Im on Leave of Absence
Thoughts?
1/21/2014 08:57:00 PM
Two different things. Is it better to carry your lunch or walk to work?
You cannot withdraw from deferred comp on a leave of absence.
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