Posted on 03/10/2012 11:15:27 AM PST by reaganaut1
ALBANY — It was not a good week for New York’s cities and counties.
On Monday, Rockland County sent a delegation to Albany to ask for the authority to close its widening budget deficit by issuing bonds backed by a sales tax increase.
On Tuesday, Suffolk County, one of the largest counties outside New York City, projected a $530 million deficit over a three-year period and declared a financial emergency. Its Long Island neighbor, Nassau County, is already so troubled that a state oversight board seized control of its finances last year.
And the city of Yonkers said its finances were in such dire straits that it had drafted Richard Ravitch, the former lieutenant governor, to help chart a way out.
Even as there are glimmers of a national economic recovery, cities and counties increasingly find themselves in the middle of a financial crisis. The problems are spreading as municipalities face a toxic mix of stresses that has been brewing for years, including soaring pension, Medicaid and retiree health care costs. And many have exhausted creative accounting maneuvers and one-time spending cuts or revenue-raisers to bail themselves out.
...
New York City’s annual pension contributions have increased to $8 billion from $1.5 billion over the past decade.
“We really are up against it,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said during a recent trip to Albany, urging the state to reduce pension benefits for future public employees. In a radio interview on Friday, Mr. Bloomberg noted the spreading financial woes of local governments, saying, “Towns and counties across the state are starting to have to make the real choices — fewer cops, fewer firefighters, slower ambulance response, less teachers in front of the classroom.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Watch the sales tax revenues. If the economy is picking up, sales tax revenue will increase, and cities and counties will be getting more tax revenue. If tax revenue is flat and they are still having budget problems, then no, there is no recovery.
Of course, after all we mustn't disrupt the union and politician scams cart where all the wasted money is going in the first place.
After that they need to review their pension funds/obligations and re-wicker them.
If they cannot cannot recover after those two moves they need to declare bankruptcy and eliminate the unions, union contracts, and rework the pensions from there.
Is it wrong to be hoping for bankruptcy, especially for the Federal Government?
It would be a major “re-set” and it would be the simplest way to end Progressive social engineering schemes, such as the notion that the Gov’t can fund unlimited entitlements, like free birth-control to law-school students.
At least we still have some semblance of local governing ability left in states and localities, and more important, Progressives have not yet fully destroyed the non-government institutions that form a civil society.
Hope & Change, gotta love that hope & chage!
I seriously doubt if its possible for sales taxes to bring in enough to cover the pension shortfalls. The Government is busy creating ever more clients, which will continue to fuel big increases in Medicaid and social services.
Municipalities will be forced to layoff police, fire and teachers (e.g., legitimate service providers) so it can pay for welfare, healthcare, and pensions. And that will actually hurt the Economy too.
The only thing that can help the pensions is a big rise in equities. And I wouldn’t hold my breath there.
Banksters ruminate, “Surely there’s a way to load even more debt interest payments on our tax donkeys.”
Cut govt? How about GUT govt.
Worthless bunch of leaches that it is.
I thought the last line of the article summarized it perfectly:
Counties will become welfare and Medicaid managers.
Even the New York Times can’t paper over the situation.
Never going to happen, the people of New York chose tyranny over freedom long ago; let them stew and go bankrupt, I will never go to The Trump Towers next to Columbus Circle again, even though my in-laws have a very nice view on the 6the floor overlooking Central Park South-—and the apartment is free. That’s how much I hate that socialist, soon-to-be 3rd world cesepool, and 100 times worse than the ‘80s. F-them.
Woman million dollar lotto winner on local news program was interviewed. She is still on food stamp program and she says after paying taxes she onyt recieved 500,000 and claims she needs these programs because she has no job, bills to pay and she has two houses.
I know it will never happen, but one can dream, can't he? :-)
A financial control board was the best thing to happen to Buffalo since road salt.
The local pols hate it, but the city actually runs budget surpluses now. The control board won't bring growth back, but at least they're managing decline better than the Democrats who run the place were.
Does this mean there will be a lot of public sector union pukes and politicians on suicide watch? If there aren’t enough, the peasants who are their victims have enough tar, feathers, rope, pitch forks, torches, and guns to help them discover “true peace” at room temperature.
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