Stop picking my pocket!

[Lee Chowaniec]

The wife and I received our Social Security statements for the upcoming 2013 year. After the increase in Medicare cost is deducted we will realize a $31 per month increase. Considering next year’s increase in our supplemental insurance premium and where our deductions and co-pays have increased as well, we will be not even be fortunate enough to break even.

Even more disturbing is that I will continue to pay town property taxes to sustain town employee health insurance where no employee contributes to his or her health plan – a generous health plan with vision and dental coverage that costs $19,300 for a family plan, and where I and many others do not have like coverage – especially dental and vision.

It is not only seniors that are being overburdened with this inequity. It is a public sector that is contributing on average 25-30% (and more) toward their health insurance coverage, and some with deductibles as high as $5,000.

Considering other federal, state and local unions are now agreeing to contracts where health plan contributions are becoming the norm, it is time for the Town of Lancaster negotiating team and/or the Town Board to not settle its pending union contracts without such compromise taking place; where town employees contribute at least 10% to their health plan premium.

The town has had a very fiscally responsible year and one can only bet the unions are licking their chops thinking how they can get their hands on the money. Strange how they fail to see the $380,000 increase in pension costs as a compensation. Even more disturbing is to hear the union reps say, ‘We are taxpayers too!” – as if that levels the playing field.

[grandma5]

Well said-

[ichingtheory]

Unfortunately, union members are better off working with their old contract. I doubt they will come to the table any time soon.

[gorja]

Unfortunately, union members are better off working with their old contract. I doubt they will come to the table any time soon.

Anyone know if the state legislature has been doing anything lately regarding the removal of the Triborough amendment. Without its removal there is no incentive for the unions to come to the table.

[ichingtheory]

anyone know if the state legislature has been doing anything lately regarding the removal of the triborough amendment. Without its removal there is no incentive for the unions to come to the table.

good point!

[4248]

Some people think that if they don't negotiate - the old contract stays in force - it does - but - raises are not automatic. Increases in extra stipends - clothing allowances - holiday pay and Even more do not increase.

When you look at every portion of what the contract covers - it will become a win for taxpayers in the long run.

Heres the biggest savings that can be obtained - cut the overtime budgets. The biggest pension inflater is over time - by working larger numbers of hours - the pension calculation rises - that increase is "Lifetime" for tax payers and the employee.

Its a proved fact that the "over time system" is and can be manipulated. When you see tax funded employees some times double their income just prior to retirement - its a valid assumption some things being fudged.

In the Buffalo fire department one ranking member doubled his pay for three years - he actually retired earning more per month than what he normally earned. The digest flag in this guys case was for most of his career he routinely turned down working over time hours.

There are still many cost savings available if the employee reps refuse to compromise. It all depends on who represents the Town/Taxpayers - in the past it was more of a dog and pony show. The Town Board pretended to have no say - they provided a "negotiator" who was vary sympathetic to the Unions. Mainly because as most people know - the Controlling LAN Dem Committee and the majority of the Towns tax funded employees are one in the same.

When you have almost every elected and appointed Town Employee and every appointed Board/Committee Members all controlling the majority vote - you have a heavily weighted system.

[Lee Chowaniec]

Anyone know if the state legislature has been doing anything lately regarding the removal of the Triborough amendment. Without its removal there is no incentive for the unions to come to the table.

The Triborough Amendment remains unchanged. The Employee Retirement System (ERS) and Police & Fire Retirement System (PFRS) Tier level has changed – Tier 6 in March 2012 and where in March 2013 contribution percents change and restrictions (overtime) and benefit formulas change as well.

The Triborough Amendment, mandates that in the event of a lack of a contract, the terms of the previous contract continue indefinitely, leaving governments (and, by extension, taxpayers) with virtually no leverage to force concessions if an overly generous contract becomes unsustainable. While raw salary increases are generally negotiated on a year by year basis (and are thus frozen at the expiration of a contract), "step increases" (which are based on an individual worker's longevity and are additional raises above and beyond general salary raises) are still required in most state contracts, and must be given even when a contract expires if the previous contract stipulated such. Thus, raises can theoretically continue in perpetuity.

It is my understanding that this holds true for the union agreement with the Lancaster Central School District regarding step increases. The same is not true for the Town of Lancaster. Town employees will work under the expired contract conditions except for longevity pay increases when the five year levels of service are reached.

The town is not obligated to pay retro pay but could do if both sides reach an amenable contract. So, I guess it is in their best interest of the union at the present time to remain under the old contract seeing as they continue to receive free health care on the dime of the taxpayer and since the taxpayer is contributing 21% of employee wages to the Employee Retirement System (ERS) and 31% of police wages to the police retirement system (PFRS).

Hold their feet to the fire Supervisor Fudoli. I imagine the health plan is part of the contract negotiation process. Hopefully you are looking into not having the town pay a dime more for any increase in the health plan coverage - $19,000 for a Cadillac family health plan and $12,000 for individual coverage is ludicrous, especially when town employees contribute zero to the plan.

Supervisor Fudoli has declared openly on numerous occasions that money for a wage increase could be had if town employees start contributing 10% to their health plan premium. Belly up to the bar boys and girls. Come into the real world!

[Lee Chowaniec]

Some people think that if they don't negotiate - the old contract stays in force - it does - but - raises are not automatic. Increases in extra stipends - clothing allowances - holiday pay and Even more do not increase.

When you look at every portion of what the contract covers - it will become a win for taxpayers in the long run.

Heres the biggest savings that can be obtained - cut the overtime budgets. The biggest pension inflater is over time - by working larger numbers of hours - the pension calculation rises - that increase is "Lifetime" for tax payers and the employee.

Its a proved fact that the "over time system" is and can be manipulated. When you see tax funded employees some times double their income just prior to retirement - its a valid assumption some things being fudged.

In the Buffalo fire department one ranking member doubled his pay for three years - he actually retired earning more per month than what he normally earned. The digest flag in this guys case was for most of his career he routinely turned down working over time hours.

There are still many cost savings available if the employee reps refuse to compromise. It all depends on who represents the Town/Taxpayers - in the past it was more of a dog and pony show. The Town Board pretended to have no say - they provided a "negotiator" who was vary sympathetic to the Unions. Mainly because as most people know - the Controlling LAN Dem Committee and the majority of the Towns tax funded employees are one in the same.

When you have almost every elected and appointed Town Employee and every appointed Board/Committee Members all controlling the majority vote - you have a heavily weighted system.

The formula for considering overtime in the ERS and PFRS has changed with the implementatin of Tier 6 - $15,000 for the ERS and 15% for the PFRS. We should no longer see the evils of pension padding that had taken place in Lancaster and other municipalities - like a Lancaster patrol officer who retired in 2011 and is receiving an $83,700 annual pension; much above his basic pay level.

Binding arbitration has always been a killer with the police contact. But how could any reasonable arbitor not consider what is taking place with other public sector unions and not say to the Lancaster police union that it is time for their worforce to start contributing to their health care premium?

[WNYresident]

The formula for considering overtime in the ERS and PFRS has changed with the implementatin of Tier 6 - $15,000 for the ERS and 15% for the PFRS. We should no longer see the evils of pension padding that had taken place in Lancaster and other municipalities - like a Lancaster patrol officer who retired in 2011 and is receiving an $83,700 annual pension; much above his basic pay level.

Binding arbitration has always been a killer with the police contact. But how could any reasonable arbitor not consider what is taking place with other public sector unions and not say to the Lancaster police union that it is time for their worforce to start contributing to their health care premium?

It isn't the tier 6 that cost us. It is the entire group of people who are in the previous tiers. That is what needs to be changed.

[Lee Chowaniec]

It isn't the tier 6 that cost us. It is the entire group of people who are in the previous tiers. That is what needs to be changed.

Of course, and that is 99.9% of the town staff. Ya dasn't kill the sacred cow that votes for you. But wait, Fudoli has already done that.

[WNYresident]

You have to. Government employees are no different than any other USA citizen. Anyone can price themselves out of a job.

[FisherRd]

Lee,
Our deductible will be $7500 on jan 1. We didn't choose that in order to save money. Our insurance has changed due to the employer making the change. A major WNY employer who's big wigs just happen to be major/national Obama mammas...

So, we'll pay $7500 in medical bills in January if I were to say for example have a colonoscopy, or use certain medications for any given ailment. It will sting, but it won't kill us. But how will the lower income employees of this major company manage?

[4248]

What a surprise - but its gonna get worse. They are going to decrease social security adjustments - discontinue funding some federal health care programs - but I don't think Fish can cry too much - he staunchly defends his Dem friends every chance he gets and never misses a chance at repeating their mud slinging stories.

OH ! Maybe he's starting to see the light - we are now growing into the next group of Americans who will choke through our retirement years - because we blindly believed the Political Entitlement Committees.

No tax funded person, elected or other wise should be receiving free health care until they figure a way to give it to every retired working American.

[gorja]

The Triborough Amendment remains unchanged. The Employee Retirement System (ERS) and Police & Fire Retirement System (PFRS) Tier level has changed – Tier 6 in March 2012 and where in March 2013 contribution percents change and restrictions (overtime) and benefit formulas change as well.

The Triborough Amendment, mandates that in the event of a lack of a contract, the terms of the previous contract continue indefinitely, leaving governments (and, by extension, taxpayers) with virtually no leverage to force concessions if an overly generous contract becomes unsustainable. While raw salary increases are generally negotiated on a year by year basis (and are thus frozen at the expiration of a contract), "step increases" (which are based on an individual worker's longevity and are additional raises above and beyond general salary raises) are still required in most state contracts, and must be given even when a contract expires if the previous contract stipulated such. Thus, raises can theoretically continue in perpetuity.

It is my understanding that this holds true for the union agreement with the Lancaster Central School District regarding step increases. The same is not true for the Town of Lancaster. Town employees will work under the expired contract conditions except for longevity pay increases when the five year levels of service are reached.

The town is not obligated to pay retro pay but could do if both sides reach an amenable contract. So, I guess it is in their best interest of the union at the present time to remain under the old contract seeing as they continue to receive free health care on the dime of the taxpayer and since the taxpayer is contributing 21% of employee wages to the Employee Retirement System (ERS) and 31% of police wages to the police retirement system (PFRS).

Hold their feet to the fire Supervisor Fudoli. I imagine the health plan is part of the contract negotiation process. Hopefully you are looking into not having the town pay a dime more for any increase in the health plan coverage - $19,000 for a Cadillac family health plan and $12,000 for individual coverage is ludicrous, especially when town employees contribute zero to the plan.

Supervisor Fudoli has declared openly on numerous occasions that money for a wage increase could be had if town employees start contributing 10% to their health plan premium. Belly up to the bar boys and girls. Come into the real world!

Thanks Lee. My hope the CSEA contract is similar to the county CSEA Local contract in that all employees will pay 15% of their healthcare premiums starting in 2013. I also would hope that their would be language indicating that the employees would be responsible for paying any annual insurance premium increase.

[Lee Chowaniec]

Lee,
Our deductible will be $7500 on jan 1. We didn't choose that in order to save money. Our insurance has changed due to the employer making the change. A major WNY employer who's big wigs just happen to be major/national Obama mammas...

So, we'll pay $7500 in medical bills in January if I were to say for example have a colonoscopy, or use certain medications for any given ailment. It will sting, but it won't kill us. But how will the lower income employees of this major company manage?

Like you many in the private sector are paying heavy premiums for decent (?) health care coverage, are having employers changing their coverage and/or charging more, are in positions where they can no longer afford health care, and are cutting back on taking medications they need but can’t afford to pay the co-pay.

As one who understands the need and value of organized labor, the Town of Lancaster unions just don’t get it regarding their rigid position on not contributing to their health insurance premium. The following report helps put into perspective why I believe the unions are out of touch.

Assuming most people know about the $16 trillion (and counting) in national debt, if you look a little deeper at the U.S. Debt clock you’d see that there are more than 4.3 million federal employees and additional 14.9 million state and local employees–or more than 19.3 million total government employees.

These government employees enjoy pay and benefits that, most likely, you and your children will never see–yet, you are paying for it.

Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its report on report on employee compensation- http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm.

The good news is that the average private sector employee earned $30.80 per hour worked in September 2012. [That's total compensation--wages and benefits.]
The bad news is that the average state and local government employee cost taxpayers an average of $41.56 per hour worked [again, in total compensation] in September 2012.

In other words, state and local government employees averaged $10.76 more per hour than their private sector counterparts.

According to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for a federal government employee (including the Post Office) was $70,100 per year. For all private sector workers, that number was $43,980. That is, federal government employees are paid 59.4 percent more in salary than their private sector counterparts.

This differential does not include the higher costs of benefits to federal employees that one Congressional Budget Office study recently pegged as being 44.7 percent greater. That same CBO study which attempted to control for factors including educational attainment and regional variations concluded that the wage differential (excluding benefits) between federal employees and private sector workers was 14.7 percent.

Given that the federal government currently spends approximately $200 billion on its civilian employees, eliminating this wage gap would result in significant cost savings to the American taxpayer. Even without adjusting benefit costs (which itself could provide significant cost savings), simply eliminating the wage disparity could provide $300 billion in deficit reduction over the next ten years – all without eliminating a single federal program. [Emphasis added.]

While no one likes to talk about the paring back of wages or benefits, the fact of the matter is, government workers are paid more than the taxpayers who pay their salaries and when taxpayers are working between 30% and 50% of the year to fund the government, there is something perversely inappropriate and immoral with the government model.

In addition, while America is more than $16 trillion in debt, we also have nearly $122 trillion in unfunded liabilities, which no one seems to be focusing on - http://www.usdebtclock.org/.

Right now, every American taxpayer is liable for more than $1 million in unfunded liabilities.

Washington politicians can tax the 1% all they want. It won’t fix what’s wrong with America because something’s going to have to get drastically cut–fast.

One of the more practical solutions would be to bring public-sector workers in line with the private sector.

The problem is, of course, unions and the hissy fits they throw.

Union bosses have a strangle hold on America and there is no sign they will be letting taxpayers loose unless and until the country declares bankruptcy.

Lastly, as for Obamacare, the number of exemptions given to businesses and public, unions is astounding. People who are seeing their health plan cost skyrocketing while their coverage significantly diminishes are being pushed into the Obamacare entitlement plan. Who then pays for this program? The same unions who contributed millions to get Obama elected are exempt from Obamacare.

Scary times are upon us and too many people just whistle in the dark.