How We Got Here...

Last night I brought up the fact that it is important to discuss how it is the police and fire pension fund got to where it is right now.

As I still believe it is important, I do want to recognize that in one night more insight and reason was given to that question than has been given in such a public manner since this issue has become 'the issue'.

Councilwoman Rushefsky and Mayor O'Neal - in their remarks concerning the tax initiative - discussed the problem in the formation of the fund to begin with, as well as the several times the city has procrastinated in addressing the problem over the decades.

In my mind, that is a much better answer than "it was the markets and the $10 million that we didn't contribute over the past decade".

I hope that discussion continues.

Pension Tax Proposal Notes

Notes from the pension tax proposals discussed August 25th....

As I sat down this past week to write my notes on these two bills, a lot of thoughts came to mind about the past two years in this community.

When I decided to run for City Council two years ago, there were several reasons why that decision was made, but there was one reason that rose above the rest. That reason was one that gave constant philosophical questions for me to ponder:

• How can any city council expect the employees they oversee to perform in an effective and efficient manner if the general morale and welfare of those employees is not a constant consideration? They can't.
• How can we as a community expect our homes, our children, and our livelihoods to be kept safe when those we rely on to do so have no other choice but to have a nagging issue on their minds at all times? At home, responding to a fire, responding to a priority 1 emergency... it is on their minds. We can't.
• From day one of my adult life I was taught that under no circumstances do you leave anybody on the battlefield. How can I, as an individual, begin to do so now? I can't.

With that, and in unison with what we all have come to accept as the way of life right now in the Springfield community, there are a few concrete facts:

• Our infrastructure is on hold until this issue is solved.
• Our Health Department is on hold until this issue is solved.
• Our community's safety is on hold until this issue is solved.
• Our CITY is on hold until this issue is solved.

So, as I look at this bill and the next, I have no doubt that the citizens will be deciding, once again, whether or not we believe a tax increase is appropriate for this issue.

Because this city is under new leadership who I believe truly desires a better direction for this city as a whole, I have no doubt that the atmosphere that surrounds this debate is going to be quite different than the one the surrounded the February debate.

As a new council, the priority should be fixing the problem, not passing a tax. There are a lot of people in this community who are watching close, and who are extremely hesitant about a tax increase in general, and especially at a time when our economy is in such a fragile state. Quite frankly, I'm one of those people; and I'm one of those people that has yet to be sold on this idea.

While I understand a tax increase may be eminent, how serious are all involved in this mess in convincing the community that this is more than just a tax...?

• Are we all serious enough to look into situations such as disability payouts to employees who leave Springfield, collect benefits, and go to the next community over to perform the same job?
• Is this City Council serious enough to look at the idea of at least reducing - if not eliminating - other taxes on the books to lessen the impact of a pension sales tax?
• Is this City Council serious enough to discuss how we got here? Nobody is looking for a 'smoking gun' or a 'head on a platter'; what they're looking for is the admission that a fixed future doesn't come from an ignored past.
• And are the police and fire serious enough to sit down and discuss measures that can be put in place to prevent this council and community from being left stranded in the cold, again, down the road? **I want to be clear: I'm not talking about reducing benefits; a promise made is a promise kept. What I am talking about is having a rational, logical, and objective discussion about this issue without having threats shoved down the Council's and the community's throat.

Now, considering the discussion of whether we go with a 5/8% or a 3/4%....

I'll be up front and say that tonight I am voting for the 5/8% increase and against the 3/4% increase for three reasons:

1. Going back to the fragile state of the economy... there are many people in this community right now struggling with the costs they have; to burden them any more than absolutely necessary should be out of the question.
2. There are a lot of cost of living increases that are coming at the community right now: utility rate increases; school bond issues; now a tax increase. Added to this, there are many people that are out of jobs right now and many others that have suffered pay reductions. If this is going to go to the voters, it should be done with a little sympathy and empathy.
3. In studying the 30% city contribution with the lower rate of return, after the first five years there is less than a 5% difference in funding levels. That minimal difference still allows for a 20% gain in the overall funding level.

This is a doable amount.

In that five years, we have the opportunity to prove to the community that we are serious about fixing this, and at the same time do it in a manner that shows that a tax increase is only PART of the solution, not THE solution.

If in five years the next council sees that 5/8% is not enough, they or we - whoever it is - can go back to the discussion board with the community.

This problem is not going to go away without in depth solutions. If this government body expects to 'sell' this tax, it's going to have to be but only one part of a bigger package.

That bigger package is owed to our police and fire.

That bigger package is owed to our community.

That is because a lot of votes are going to hinge on that bigger package, including mine.