Budget-busting contracts
Some towns and school boards have done a better job this year keeping tax rate increases at or below the cost of living. But many have not. If you are looking for clues as to why, a good place to start would be the public employee contracts. While towns and school boards like to keep the contracts under wraps, they can be found on the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Council Web site. Every public contract must be filed with PERC, and all of them are posted on the Web. Some make for depressing reading. But they help underscore the point that meaningful property tax relief will never happen unless public employee benefits and salaries are brought under control. Broader public awareness of what the contracts contain may finally force elected officials to do something about them.
posted by Randy Bergmann at 1:57 PM
2 Comments:
Thanks for blogging about this topic. I, for one, am sick of hearing of public employees feeding like pigs at the public's expense.
If anyone doubts just how bad the problem is, go to the APP's front page and check out their "Data Universe." Once there, take a look at the salaries the taxpayers of Monmouth County pay to the correctional officers working at the Monmouth County Jail. Last year one guard alone was paid $150,000, $70,000 of which was overtime. Why can't Sheriff Oxley get a handle on this problem? When are we going to get some competent leadership in Monmouth County?
Yeah then look at the teachers who make 60,000 after 20 plus years. Got to strip their benefits and pensions away from those rich teachers. Maybe we can strip away the pension from the janitor who makes 40,000 or the hall aide who makes 20,000. They are really the fat cats.
Post a Comment
<< Home