10
PENSION AND BENEFITS REPORT
NEW JERSEY COPS ■ JULY 2014
Mr. Governor, I offer you ‘Plan B’
So, let’s suppose you bought a used car. The car
was in decent shape. It had the usual dings, pings
and issues that come with a used car. Despite your
very best intentions to take care of the car and
make it better than when you bought it, it starts to
run a little rougher. The engine gets sluggish and
the dings get bigger. Luckily the car came with a
basic warranty. It lets you get the repairs done and
you can easily blame the previous owner for all
those problems.
Now, let’s pretend your car just turned 4½ years
old. You let the engine get so sluggish it has trouble getting you to
jobs. Now you have trouble earning money to get you to new jobs
to pay for real car repairs. This whole car of yours is turning into a
piece of junk. Weird though, all your friends who bought used cars
about the same time in other states are starting to look brand new
and a whole lot shinier.
Now, you get really bad news from the mechanic: your car needs
$2.7 billion dollars in repairs during the next two years. Ouch! How
did you let that happen? Now, I guess my question has to be: how
long are you going to blame the old owner for your own repair
problems?
Now, let’s get back to the state’s problems. We face a real budget
repair problem and the governor has decided not to make his legally required contributions to the pension. On June 9, the governor
said: "Since I’ve announced what the plan was, you have not heard
boo, nothing, from anybody else in a position of leadership in this
state saying they have a different plan that’s able to fill the size of the
gap that we have."
Pat
Colligan
Now, I might not have a
UPCOMING PENSION SEMINARS
state leadership position, but
You must be pre-registered to attend:
I did stay at a Holiday Inn
www.njspba.com/pension-planning/
Express last night and I seem
Thursday, July 17 - 10 a.m.
to remember a few bucks
NJSPBA Headquarters
spent in the last 4½ years that
158 Main Street Woodbridge
might have been used for
some more important things
Tuesday, July 29 - 10 a.m.
like this pension payment. I’d
Morris County Public Safety
Training Academy
like to offer a few items that I
500 West Hanover Ave, Parsippany, NJ
personally think could have
been put to better use:
•
Christie Bridgegate “Investigation” Legal fees (discounted) paid
to Gibson Dunn & Crutcher: $3.26 million (and climbing).
•
Race to the Top School Funding “application error:” $400
million.
•
“Special” Senate Election to keep Booker off the Christie
ballot: $23.8 million.
•
“Stronger than the Storm” high bid Chris Christie family
commercials: $2.20 million over low bid.
•
“Alternative Investment Fees” paid by the NJ Pension Fund
for New Jersey’s high-risk hedge fund managers (mostly
friends and donors of you know who): $1.2 billion.
•
Difference in profits between Christie’s “Alternative Investments” and the median national public pension investment
return (12.9 percent vs. 16 percent): $2.5 billion.
•
State subsidy to the Camden County “Regional” Police
Department: $35 million.
•
Pension padding for Christie pal Gene Feyl following his
appointment to Highlands Commission: $300,000
(over 10 years).
•
In May, 2014 the governor’s office staff received average
raises of 23.1 percent (21.1 percent more than the 2-percent
cap imposed on police/firefighters): $305,636.66 in excess
of 2 percent.
•
AshBritt no-bid contracts after Hurricane Sandy:
$150 million.
•
Legal fees paid to the law firm of Patton Boggs by the
Christie campaign (Lawyers to the New Jersey Republican
State Committee) for Bridgegate: $314,000.
•
Legal fees paid to the law firm of Patton Boggs (Lawyers to
Christie Campaign and the New Jersey Republican State
Committee) to negotiate with the Department of Transportation for the ARC Project cancellation: $1.2 million.
•
Amount New Jersey owed to the federal government after
improperly overseeing Medicaid's patient-care services:
$145 million.
•
Since 2010, New Jersey’s Economic Development Authority
has awarded 252 companies more than $4 bill