I’ve created a new chart, which will be updated monthly,showing the balance of the city’s combined pension plans in comparison with the stock market, tracking S&P 500 index. Unfortunately, as I’ve pointed out previously, the city’s pensions are largely invested in risky assets which makes the entire plan correlate well with the markets. Please...
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No surprise here. Michigan is in the top 10 of highest property taxes of all the states. Wayne county, the highest property tax county in Michigan, is number 38 in the nation (among 790 counties). Is this a surprise? Wayne county is the most destitute, failed county – possibly in the nation. Kent county...
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Most Americans probably haven’t heard of the term austerity until recently. If you lived in Europe, it would be a daily topic of discussion. Austerity essentially means being forced to live with less, particularly as it relates to government benefits. As Greece has essentially entered a period of national bankruptcy, the government is finally...
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This past week the City of Grand Rapids has admitted that the pension fund deficit for this coming fiscal year (starting July 1, 2010) has gotten even worse than before. According to the Grand Rapids Press, the city’s pension plan actuary (the people who run the plan and tell the city how much needs...
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Grand Rapids’ Chief Financial Officer, Scott Buhrer, updated the city’s Fiscal Outlook through 2014 on February 12. You can read the report here. My first reaction was, “Finally, somone at City Hall gets it!” I will quote extensively from his comments and bold the comments that I believe are important to note. This financial...
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In a story that was the same time baffling and a bit funny, the City of Grand Rapids has decided to keep six full time parking lot attendants on the payroll, even though their jobs were replaced with automated parking lot machines. Here’s a quote from the article: “When automated ticketing machines took over...
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The Grand Rapids City Commission voted last week to place a 15% income tax increase on the ballot May 4th. The vote was 6 to 0 in favor, showing a remarkable lack of leadership and critical thinking on the part of any of the city commissioners. I guess replacing Jim Jendrasiak in the 1st...
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A little-discussed news item is that, as the Great Recession drags on, states are getting crushed under piles of borrowing to continue to pay unemployment benefits. As states run out of money, they begin to borrow from the Federal Government. Why is this issue important? Because the state will eventually have to repay this...
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The City of Grand Rapids and several surrounding areas are considering tax increases this May to shore up local budgets. Of course, much of the reason is the Great Recession we are currently in. Much of the problem is that city governments outspent themselves and sold taxpayers down the road by promising unionized municipal...
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2010′s property tax assessment documents were sent out last month and you have a very small window of time to appeal your assessment. In many cases, taxable values went up while property values went down. The city of Grand Rapids has a web page with the required documentation you need to fill out for...
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