Tag Archives: wages

February 24, 2013 · 9:02 am

An Eye On Ackert, Part 5 Bullies, Traitors and Tea Parties

ackertThe American Revolution started largely because of tyranny and oppression fostered in the name of a King.  Today we have oppression fostered by the school yard bullies in the State Legislature in the form of unfunded mandates upon the municipalities.

Emboldened with a sense of power and self-assurance the legislature has continually piled more unfunded mandates on local budgets requiring taxpayers to fund requirements unsupported by State resources.  State Representative (R) Tim Ackert has never been fond of bullies in the school yard and he is not too happy about the unfunded State mandates.

The State has mandated a “prevailing wage” be paid on municipal projects which has discouraged some contractors from bidding on work and requires taxpayers to pay more for the work than would be paid for the same labor on another job.  This creates an artificial market with limited competition and hence unnecessarily increases add to the cost of construction projects paid for with local tax funds.

Representative Ackert is taking action calling for some changes.  He has propose two measures, the first being HB-5962, An Act Concerning State Contributions To Municipalities And The Prevailing Wage.  The proposal would exempt municipalities from the prevailing wage laws unless the state contributes twenty-five per cent or more of the total cost of the municipal project.

While a better solution would be to remove the mandate or at least require the State to fund more than half, this is a first step in the right direction.  The reality is with so many Democratic Legislators beholden to the special interest of union labor even this small step would be a huge win for the taxpayers of Connecticut.

The second proposal being offered by Rep. Tim Ackert is, An Act Increasing The Prevailing Wage Threshold known as HB-5964.  This proposal would increase the threshold amount for construction projects to require prevailing wage to five million dollars for new construction and on million for remodeling.  The current requirements call for $400,000 and $100,000 respectively.

Once again Ackert is stepping in the right direction attempting to find an island of common ground with recalcitrant Representatives willing to put the wants of a special interest above the welfare of the taxpayers.  Finding an island of commonality however, could prove to be more difficult than holding back high tide on Long Island Sound.

Doing the right thing for your constituents can be difficult when facing a political majority willing to protect their political supporters with public tax dollars.  When a majority of our legislators are will to openly and proudly destroy an open and free market while instituting higher taxes to pay for prevailing wages and unfunded mandates they are not serving their constituents they are oppressing them.

These two proposals like the Boston Tea Party of 1773 are sending a message; it is time to fight back in the name of the taxpayers.  If he keeps marching in this direction Mr. Ackert could become known as “Tea Party Tim”.

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March 23, 2012 · 9:09 am

Taxes and Rose Colored Glasses

Would the average working man and woman support a tax increase in Connecticut?  They would if they had on a pair of glasses with rose lenses.  So who wears those lenses you ask?  State workers, and for them looking at the world through rose colored glasses is not new.  They bought and paid for the view and now enjoy the fruits of their efforts.

For years it is no secret public service employee unions have contributed tons of money to (some would say buy) Democratic State Legislators’ looking for their support.  The unions have refined the image of their members to be perceived as hard working average folks just eeking out a living, making ends meet by working hard.  Make no mistake some have a tough job and some we have seen or come in contact with seem to have it pretty cushy.

State employee unions supported Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy’s largest tax increase in the State’s history.  Can it be they are so dedicated and loyal that they are willing to give up what little they make to expand the size of government?

By now you may be wondering how much do they make?  Are they really like the average hard working taxpayers of Connecticut struggling to come up with more money to pay ever higher taxes?  Taxes that are added to nearly every item we need or buy and in some cases like gasoline are even taxed twice.

The average amount paid to a state employee last year was $74,239 in salaries, wages and benefits. Is that an average pay here in Conn?  According to the Connecticut Department of Labor using the most recent figures available the annual wage for Cheshire was $52,305 and the annual wage in Coventry was $33,692.  Now that puts things in perspective doesn’t it?  Thirty seven percent (37%) of state workers made more than $100,000 last year.  Are you kidding me that is more than 1/3rd of the total workers?

We have prisons where we lock up the crooks and criminals at least that is what we were taught.  So let’s take a look at that department.  It is interesting what we find, the average compensation package for employees in the Department of Corrections last year was $109,279 with 2/3 making at least $100,000.  That may seem high but maybe not, everything must be put into perspective.  So let us take a look the Department of Mental Health and Addiction for a comparison.

The percentage at DMHA of people making over $100,000 is also about 2/3 so it seems to be in line with the Department of Corrections except that the average here is $120,212.   We better take a look at a third department just to be fair.  Over at the Judicial Department the average compensation package was $98,658 with nearly half (47%) of the employees receiving more than $100,000.

Yes your economic future is secure, and your view of the world is rosie when you work for the State.  All the money you spent on supporting politicians has paid off.  So now who is really running the State is it the voters, the elected politicians or the union bosses?  We leave that an open question?

The view of our economic climate for some is so good that with rose colored lenses we are even considering raising local taxes.  The problem is rose colored lenses are sometimes so dark as to hide the real world and the hardships that exist.  The only solution for a voter looking at the real world is to change your glasses or change the way you vote.

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July 16, 2011 · 9:14 am

They Spent Your Money – Now The Truth Leaks Out

Governor Malloy has provided a list of department layoffs of State employees and the savings from each department.  Something looks a bit strange in the list.

Take as an example the Office of Policy and Management where four (4) people will receive pink slips and the taxpayers will save $5,953,880 over the next two (2) years.  That is a savings of nearly $1.5 million dollars per employee!

A simple question comes to mind here.  Why?  Why are the people that were working on the policy and management of our State getting paid so much?  Were they doing such a fabulous job or were they part of our policy and management problem that got us into this financial mess?

Three quarters of a million dollars per employee per year is a lot of money and as one taxpayer said, “What were they doing over there curing cancer?”  Perhaps that would not be too much to expect for that kind of cost.  The sad truth is they were aiding and abetting politicians as they mismanaged our money.

Here’s another example, four people at the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection will save the taxpayers $1,013,307 in the year 2013 alone.  The Democratic Party has been talking about profits in big oil lately.  Well it looks to me like there was some pretty good money being made in big government in our Connecticut Department of Energy and Environment with the support of the same Democratic Party.  Apparently big government is ok but big business is sinister.

Tough working environments sometimes require higher pay; I mean some tasks are difficult and dangerous.  I just have to wonder how dangerous the state library is when we layoff only ten people and save on the average $293,000 per person.  Do you wonder if the cost was inflated over what the real world job market would pay for equal work?

Part of Governor Malloy’s plan includes listing as layoffs positions that are vacant and do not actually have workers currently assigned to them.  In fact it calls for 1599 of those “workers” to be let go.  Oh, such hardship and pain, if no one is on the job now will we miss their service over the next two years?  Is this another example of smoke and mirrors or what?

There are two people that will be leaving the Lieutenant Governor’s Office under the plan and you have to wonder about that one.  Just what is going on in that office?  Every time you see Governor Malloy the Lieutenant Governor is standing within arms reach.  Do you recall that situation with any other Lieutenant Governor ever happening before?  Does she even know where her office is and what goes on there?

That is where your money invested in Connecticut government has been going.  The recent discussions about the cost of employee benefits and salaries are valid; taxpayers need to know how much they really pay for government service.  The above examples are real, they are provided by your Governor and the costs were approved in the past by your elected officials.

Can we continue down the road of tax and spend with guaranteed raises, longevity bonuses, total healthcare, and even guaranteed employment?  What are the limits of the taxpayers?  Can we afford to pay for luxury compensation packages with limited checks and balances for productivity and performance?  There is only a single way to change the system and it relies on you and your vote.

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