The ‘plan’ is to Include Beaumont’s City Employee Pension Debt in a Bankruptcy, but Employees Didn’t Pay in SSI Either.
Beaumont City Manager Todd Parton started working for the City on October 31, 2016. Parton was not qualified to be Beaumont’s City Manager because he didn’t know California State Laws and he had no experience managing a city the size of Beaumont.
But ‘Council Approved’ the hiring of Todd Parton because Parton had one magical item on his Resume; while City Manager of Kerrville, Texas, he was able to acquire massive bond debt.
Since Parton’s arrival in Beaumont he’s purchased a lot of ‘bling’. Beaumont Staff and Council are spending money on new vehicles, office furniture, computers, trips, and of course the parties.
When asked where the money came from for all the bling bling bling; Parton’s reply was ‘the Budget’.
‘Council Approved’.
There’s no ‘budget tree’ growing in the back yard for which to pick money. Government money comes from a source; Property Taxes, Sales Taxes, Mitigation Fees, the illegal $8 Million/year in overcharged Mello Roos Taxes.
With the City needing hundreds of millions of dollars for construction projects; did the Council actually pass Budgets allocating hundreds of thousands of dollars for bling?
The answer is no.
There was no money allocated in the City’s Budgets for bling; Beaumont Staff and Council spent money allocated to pay the Employees’ Pensions to buy bling.
The City of Beaumont’s 2016 Audited Financial Statements, page 46, Note 6) Long-Term Liabilities shows that the City paid $634,818 less into their Pensions than was required bringing the total Pension Debt to $13,815,029.
Right after the Raids in 2015 the Beaumont City Council hired Bob Deis, who gained infamy by getting a Judge to include the City’s of Stockton Employees’ Pension Debt into the City’s Bankruptcy leaving the Employees with only a fraction of the Pension they expected.
The City of Beaumont should be paying extra into the Pension Fund to make up for the Debt, but the City is running up their Pension Debt because they never plan to pay the bill.
The ‘plan’, orchestrated by Bob Deis and ‘Financial Advisor’ Mike Busch, is to continue to steal money out of the Pensions and run up the Pension Debt, then throw the Pension Debt into a Bankruptcy.
I’m sure the majority of Beaumont Citizens reading this don’t have much pity for City Employees losing their Pensions. In many respects; it couldn’t happen to a more deserving group of people.
But what people in the private sector might not realize is that Beaumont City Employees don’t pay in any Social Security Insurance – SSI. They are dependent on a pension from the City.
In the private sector a pension is a supplement to SSI, not a replacement. But if an industry, such as the Railroad Industry, offers a better retirement than SSI; they are allowed to only pay into their industry’s retirement plan.
The key words here are ‘pay in’
Some government agencies in California offered marvelous pension packets to their employees; so marvelous that the agency could opt-out of paying in SSI. The problem is that they never paid the Pensions into the System.
A pension is a combination of the money paid in PLUS the accumulated Interest on that money over the work-life of the employee. No money paid in = no Interest accumulated.
Does City Manager Todd Parton care about employees’ pensions?
Nooooooo
Parton’s from Texas – they don’t even ‘believe’ in pensions in Texas.
Does Finance Director Melana Taylor care about employees’ pensions?
Apparently not. Taylor has never mentioned needing to pay down the pension debt.
Did anyone on the Beaumont Audit and Finance Committee or City Council mention the growing Pension Debt.
Noooooo
They never notice anything until they read it in the Patch or Judy Bingham brings it up in Council.
O’ well.
I do not want to see one Beaumont City Employee shed a tear for their Pension. I’ve exposed the Pension Debt, I’ve exposed the scam; and the government corruption continues.
Enjoy your parties and enjoy your corruption while it lasts.
And enjoy the food stamp line in your old age.