It’s A Good Thing He’s A Self-Made Billionaire Who Is Beholden To No One
Because then he’d have to suck up to unions and other special interests in order to get elected:
Posted: June 23rd, 2009 | Filed under: Smells Fishy, Smells Not RightMayor Michael R. Bloomberg is sounding the alarm over New York City’s pension system these days, calling it “out of control.”
Costs have ballooned, he says, threatening to bankrupt the city. Municipal unions and lawmakers in Albany created the crisis, he suggests, and left the city holding the bag.
But interviews and budget records show that the Bloomberg administration itself is responsible for much of the growth in city pension costs over the last eight years, and has repeatedly missed opportunities to rein in the spending.
Since Mr. Bloomberg took office, city contributions to the pension system have jumped nearly five-fold to $6.3 billion, from $1.4 billion, and they now account for one out of every 10 dollars in the city’s budget.
A major reason: the mayor has given the city’s 300,000 workers generous pay increases, guaranteeing that they retire with bigger pensions, which are typically 50 percent of salary. Such raises force the city to make heftier payments to the pension system now.
Salary increases approved by Mr. Bloomberg are responsible for nearly 30 percent of the growth in city pension costs from the 2002 through 2008 fiscal years — about $1.2 billion, according to the administration’s Office of Management and Budget. That figure is projected to rise to $1.7 billion by next year. At the same time, the mayor has offered support for legislation, passed in Albany, that has made pensions even more lucrative for many workers, costing the city tens of millions of dollars.
Mr. Bloomberg presents himself as a model of financial restraint who has stood up to special interests, like unions, in order to hold down city spending — a claim that is at the heart of his bid for a third term.