Unemployment Fund: Insolvent, Interest Coming Due

California's unemployment insurance trust fund is $8.5 billion in the red ...The state is able to continue to pay benefits thanks to a federal loan.

But starting in September, California will have to start paying hundreds of millions of dollars in interest on that loan.... fund is chronically imbalanced and the deficit keeps growing.

"11.1 billion by the end of 2011. We forecast a deficit of 12.7 billion by the end of 2012 if we still have no solution. So it's a situation that can no longer recover on its own, no matter how strong the economy rebounds."

The NEW ballad of Jed Clampett
Come and listen to a story ‘bout a man named Jed
Poor oil entrepreneur barely kept his family fed
Then one day he was working for some food,
And up through the town come a bumbling clown
(Brown that is, take a toke, what a joke)

Well the first thing you know old Jed’s taxes are to much to bear,
Kin folk said Jed move away from there!
Said California is no place for you to be
So they loaded up the truck and they moved from Beverly
(go’n back to the Hills they are, fish’n holes, country and western stars)

Well now it’s time to say goodbye to Jed and all his kin
They would like to thank you folks for kindly dropping in
You’re all invited back again to their new locality
To have a heaping helping of their hospitality
(Redneck Hillbillies, is what the press call ‘em now,
Clingers of bibles and guns and to Obama no bow!
Nice folks Y’all come back now, ya hear?)

14 Cities That Are Being Eaten Alive By Public Sector Workers
businessinsider.com / Grace Wyler, 7/13/11

Although national attention has largely focused on state budget battles like Wisconsin's union showdown and Minnesota's state shutdown, the real spending struggle is actually taking place at the local level. As federal stimulus money runs dry, states are scaling back on municipal aid and revenue sharing.

The cuts are adding immense pressure to strained local governments, many of which are already struggling under huge debt burdens. After years of declining tax revenues, cities and towns across the country are now running out of ways to deal with their ballooning budget deficits. Public employee costs account for a large share of municipal budget woes. While worker compensation accounts for just 30% of state spending, personnel costs tends to eat up between 70% and 80% of local government funds. Skyrocketing employee costs — the result of overly generous union contracts, an aging workforce, and bad pension investments — are now pushing several municipalities to the brink of fiscal ruin.

Without union concessions or substantial reform, these cities will edge closer to insolvency while residents pay higher taxes for deteriorating public services.

Here's a look at 14 cities where the problem is particularly acute. 1. NY City 2. LA 3. Chicago 4. San Francisco 5. Pittsburgh 6. North Las Vegas 7. San Jose, CA 8. Providence, RI 9. New Haven 10. Newark 11. Stockton, CA 12. Colorado Springs 13. Costa Mesa, CA 14. Central Falls, RI (just declared bankruptcy which negates all union contracts)

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Newport Beach, Cali cops get $5,600 to wash their motorcycles
ocregister.com / BRIAN CALLE

It pays well to wash your motorcycle if you are a cop in Newport Beach, where officers who patrol on motor bikes are paid an additional six hours of overtime every month simply for giving their cycles a wash.

The special compensation equates to, on average, about a 5 percent pay hike for motorcycle officers, or about $5,600 a year in additional monies, according to an analysis of city documents and interviews with key city staff. As alarming as that may seem, this is only one example of special pay that inflates salaries and is often hidden from public view because of the stealth nature of negotiations.The sweet deal is part of the contract negotiated between the police union and the city – yet another creative example of public employee pay abuses at taxpayer expense.

Here's the payout described in a 2010-2011 memo of understanding between the city and the Newport Beach Police Association: "Assigned Motor Officers are responsible for keeping the motorcycle assigned to him/her cleaned and polished at all times. This work shall be performed outside of the regularly scheduled work hours; and compensated at the rate of six (6) additional hours overtime per month (six (6) hours at time and one half equals 9 hours compensation)."......

......... if you take the average annual pay of a police officer in the traffic division at $109,139, then divide it by 2,080 work hours in a year, the hourly rate is $52. So overtime (related to cleaning motorcycles) would be $468 a month or $5,616 a year. That's the equivalent of a 5.1 percent pay raise.

Newport Beach also has a number of categories of "special pay" including: being bilingual, having a master's degree, a commercial drivers license, fire mechanic certification, etc.--SNIP--

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