Welcome to the reckoning. We have met the fiscal apocalypse and it is smack dab in the middle of the heartland. As Wisconsin goes, so goes the nation.
Let us all pray it does not go the way of the decrepit welfare states of the European Union.
New GOP Gov. Scott Walker wants public unions to pony up a little more. He has proposed raising the public employee share on health insurance premiums from less than 5 percent to 12.4 percent. He is also pushing for state workers to cover half of their pension contributions.
To spare taxpayers the soaring cost of Byzantine union-negotiated work rules, he would rein in Big Labor's collective bargaining power to cover only wages unless approved at the ballot box.
Yes, the so-called progressives truly believe that bringing American union workers into the 21st century in line with the rest of the workforce is tantamount to dictatorship.
Yes, the so-called progressives truly believe that by walking off their jobs and out of their classrooms, they are "putting children first."
It is not so shocking that the union members are fight this.
However, the White House has NO business sending "his people down" is just proof positive that the POTUS has prostituted himself to the unions.
Like our local politicians they are only concerned with the power they have and will do anything to keep!
Yes, this could happen in New Albany!
Police and Fire take up eighty five cents of every dollar of our general fund.
Between both departments, salaries, health care and pensions, well over 13 million comes out of our general fund. That is only two departments out of 16.
They soon will be asking for 17 new police cars in hopes of getting at least 10 new cars.
The General Fund supports the following departments:
*Mayor's Office
* Controller
* City Clerk
* City Council
* City Attorney
* Board of Public Works and Safety
* Animal Shelter
* Weights and Measures
* Plan Commission
* Building Commission
* Police Department
* Police Merit Commission
* Fire Department
* Communications Department
* Fair View Cemetery
* West Haven Cemetery
The largest, non-salary, expense for the City of New Albany is insurance. Several months ago, City Attorney Shane Gibson and others came up with a bogus plan:
Health Savings Account (HSA) which they claim they can save $450,000 in 2011 and approximately $800,000 in 2012.
But the catcher of this bogus plan is we the taxpayers would pay $1,000 per employee and they had until Jan. 31, 2011 to decided.
Guess the results were not what they expected still NO word on whether the city employees agreed to this bogus plan or not.
Could what is happening in Wisconsin happen in New Albany?
Absolutely!
It's going to take a new Mayor like Jeff Gahan, to say, take these cuts and save your job, or break the bank and be laid off because there in NO more MONEY.
Everyone is hurting and cutting back in New Albany, why should these 16 departments be any different.
