Budget Magic

[shinblind]

Can someone explain how Ludington's unfunded pension liability went from around $3,000,000 in 2011 to $11,000,000 in 2016 ? ? ?

Is this the magic the City uses to balance the budget? Underfund pensions in order to balance the books?

Should we be worried?

[XLFD]

Wow.  Can you link to the source and perhaps review what other similar cities have done during the same time?  That jump of nearly five million in 2015 to 2016, nearly the full annual COL budget, is almost unbelievable.

[shinblind]

Here is a comparison to a few other cities in Michigan.

The one thing these other cities have in common is that an Emergency City Manager has replaced the current city manager.

[shinblind]

https://www.opendatanetwork.com/entity/1600000US2649640/Ludington_M...

[shinblind]

Here is a comparison with Manistee. Looks like they are fiscally more conservative with funding their pensions.

[Willy]

Is this for all pensions, police, executives, contract personnel  and City employees? What is startling is the per capita figure. The Council has created debts that even the children are responsible for. Shouldn't this information have been in the latest budget that was approved? Good find shinblind

[AQUAMAN]

Great find and discussion Shinblind, thanks.

[Brad]

It would be nice to have a graph on percentage of benefits-to-wages in relation to the private businesses and other cities.  As X has pointed out in the past many times (and unheard)

[shinblind]

At one time city employees were undercompensated in wages but were almost guaranteed employment for life and received a generous fringe benefits and pensions for their service . Their wages were allowed to be increased to market rates but unlike their counterparts in the private sector they are still almost impossible to fire and their fringe benefits are now way out of line with the private sector. 

Maybe taxpayers would be better served by going a different route.