This is a reply to a recent letter titled “Budget up because of public pensions.”
Sir, the budget is up because of the vast entitlement programs New Jersey decides to fund over and above. Public employees pay a significant amount of money to the state (forced by the way) to ensure a way-below-average payback.
In addition, should you look up Chapter 78, we were strapped with skyrocketing pension-contribution increases.
If you really follow politics, you would see that our pension fund was “raided” to the tune of $100 million by Gov. Christie Todd Whitman and was never paid back. It’s unfortunate that since her reign, no one has ever really focused on the actual “payback,” kicking that can down the road, to only cause a “crisis.”
Gov. Chris Christie along with (then-Senate president) Steve Sweeney came up with a plan to alleviate the crisis across the backs of 800,000 public employees and their families better known as Chapter 78.
You see, sir, if you actually knew a little bit about New Jersey’s public employees vs. New Jersey labor laws, you would see that public employees (exempt from the state Department of Labor prevailing wages) are the cheapest labor you’re gonna get.
New Jersey prevailing wages are about three times what public employees get, and, guess what, those wages are spread across the backs of hard-working New Jersey taxpayers locally and statewide on any public work.
To add to this, our Legislature ensures a 3 percent to 4 percent raise for these wages.
You see, sir, most of the monies funding the pensions, large pay rates, annuity payments, etc. are from the public, and the significant budget increases are from any public job being done by outside companies.
My street is being paved right now by Tilcon of New Jersey; those laborers on the side of that paver are getting $65-plus per hour plus their benefits plus their annuities plus their pensions - all funded by “we the taxpayer.”
Rest assured, our Legislature ensures those laborers (not public employees) a 3 percent to 4 percent per year raise to said prevailing wages, while public employees fight for 1 percent to 2 percent raises equal to maybe $100 a month before tax.
Please know what you’re saying before you attack the cheapest labor our state has.
Feel free to check out the “prevailing wage schedule” on the NJDOL website. This will remind you of the exorbitant amounts of taxpayer monies going to private companies, who really are the donors to our elected officials.
Christopher Rowe
Sparta