Township Board Creates New Tax Rather Than Trim 'Ridiculously Generous' Benefits

Michigan Capitol Confidential ^ | 12/15/2011 | Tom Gantert

[MichCapCon]

Kalamazoo Township pays 100 percent of the health care costs of its police department and also has a retirement plan that is more than twice as lucrative as the average in the private sector.

The township also recently approved a resolution to create a new tax to help pay for those benefits.

Kalamazoo Township contributed an amount equivalent to 18 and 18.5 percent of an employee’s salary into a defined-contribution system for its police officers in 2009 and the first half of 2010. The township then switched to a defined-benefit pension plan and now contributes 15 percent.

The private sector pays on average 4 to 7 percent of an employee’s salary to retirement plans, according to a Mackinac Center 2010 study. The 37 police department employees averaged $68,368 in salary in 2010. There were seven other employees who worked 1,110 hours or less.

[headstamp 2]

Politicians are always generous with other people’s money.

[Proud2BeRight]

And the Kalamazoo population has dropped about 7% in the past 20 years. The median household income is $31,189. 24.3% of the population are below the poverty line. Are city governments that stupid to think higher taxes and higher spending help an economy?

[Mr. K]

no, they think the citizens are stupid enough to not notice

With a median income of 31K and 24% below the poverty line, I am guessing that this is not a town full of rocket scientists (if you catch my drift)

[smithandwesson76subgun]

No but it used to be full of chemists and pharmaceutical workers.