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Wwkvoter,

The point I was making (actually, just wondering) if you knew what the unfunded liability was for healthcare. Since you answered my question with a question, ill give you the answer. The unfunded healthcare liability currently is $300 million. How are we going to pay that? I dont know, but I can assure you of one thing. The health care plan is too lucrative, and the employees do not contribute nearly enough. So the first step is to maybe not give the Cadillac plan when we clearly historically have not been able to afford it. There needs to be serious increases in co-pays, there should be no free lifetime healthcare given to retirees, that needs to stop immediately, and retirees need to contribute substantially more.

The fact of the matter is that longevity should not mean that the taxpayer is obligated to continue to give raises that we cant afford just because you have been there for x amount of time. It is about what the community can afford. We cannot afford any more..

For 20 years, we have had city council members that have never performed any research, never asked for documentation to substantiate numbers, and several times have voted to ratify contracts without even reading them. Case and point 2015 fire contract where 6 council members, including Solomon, told me to my face that they didnt read the contract because it never changes. It did change, and now we are in a quandary with unused sick pay.

There is huge fat in all of the contracts and also in every departments budget. Think about it, last month the finance committee discussed for 30 minutes how to save 5 cents per can of spray paint that is used on the ball fields, yet 5 members voted to ratify contracts prior to the 5 year fiscal evaluation was made public. Those 2 contracts included $2,833,000 in raises. Make sense? Of course not, but that my friend, is how we have arrived at this point.

Insolvency is now the only solution and it is on the way, for sure. Joe Newton, the actuary stated last year when he was asked by Merolla : At what point to we get to the point of no return? His answer: "Mr. Merolla, that was 5 years ago".

I have sent countless letters to every member of the council with budget cuts for each department that do not touch salaries, but clearly cut areas that have historically shown to be wasteful. Do you think anyone listens? The plan and answers that you are asking me for is the question you should be formally asking the council. Have you done that?