The Time Has Come - of budgets and of kings - First Season Episode 1 Part 1

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of budgets--and of kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

News from the Budget Front - First Season Episode 1 Part 1

8.8 % tax increase proposed
coupled with the use of the surplus the effective increase is ~ 16%
ie if you talk the only real number worth talking about
( increase in HOW MUCH YOU SPENT year over year )

that should go over big with the seniors - several seniors
we spoke to, said that might be the straw to force them to sell their home

the projected structural increase ( means it's built in - you keep
going this way that it's inevitable ) for next year is in the 12-13% range
( you ate up the surplus - it's all gone .. )

Mr Ledwith (Village Attorney) moves to a pure W-2 position due to the
apparent problems with paying W-2's and 1099's to the same person
His projected salary is $143,000 which means with the associated
health, retirement, etc benefits ( +40% - 45% ) you're looking at
a total cost of ~ $200,000 to $207,000 to the village

apparently no prior discussion of this by the Board, the exact arrangements or
terms, the number just showed up under legal
a little background math using round numbers:
the law firm of Mr Ledwith and Mr Atkinson currently bill the village
about $250K per year
- with ~ 250 working days in the year that's $1,000 per day / per working day
- at a bill rate of $175/hr that's 5.7 hours per working day on village business
- now $143,000 would only cover 57% of his normal bill rate, so it's quite possible
you can expect to see a "requirement" for additional "contracted services" from a
"trusted firm" shortly after the contract is adopted - ( simply too much work )
- it's also worth noting that this increase in W-2 salary ( from $26K to $143K )
has a very beneficial effect on the NYSERS retirement salary calculations. Since
NYSERS calculates retirement based on "TOTAL years of service" and the average of
the FINAL 3 YEARS SALARY", getting a "bump" at the end - really works wonders - ie:
for arguments sake - using 10 years of service
10 yrs service - at $26K with last 1 year at $143K = effective retirement salary = $62K
10 yrs service - at $26K with last 2 year at $143K = effective retirement salary = $98K
10 yrs service - at $26K with last 3 year at $143K = effective retirement salary = $134K




http://www.osc.state.ny.us/retire/members/final_average_salary.htm

Final Average Salary (FAS)

The final average salary is one of three important components that will determine your retirement benefit. (Your plan and service credit are the other two.) The following explains the final average salary for both the Employees' Retirement System (ERS) and the Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS), by each tier of membership.

3 Year Final Average Salary (FAS)

Tier 1 (ERS & PFRS)

Highest average of wages* earned during any three consecutive years. If your date of membership is before 4/1/72, payment for unused vacation, not to exceed 30 days, will be included in your FAS if the wages used to calculate your FAS were those immediately preceding your retirement. If your date of membership is 6/17/71 or later, the wages in any 12-month period cannot exceed the earnings in the previous 12-month period by more than 20 percent. Any amount in excess of this will be excluded.

Tier 2 (ERS & PFRS)

Highest average of wages earned during any three consecutive years. Earnings in any year included in the period cannot exceed the average of the previous two years by more than 20 percent. Any amount in excess of this will be excluded. Payment for unused vacation is not included in the FAS.

Tier 3 & 4 (ERS only)

Highest average of wages earned during any three consecutive years. Earnings in any year included in the period cannot exceed the average of the previous two years by more than 10 percent. Any amount in excess of this will be excluded. Payment for unused vacation not to exceed 30 days will be included in your FAS if the wages used to calculate your FAS were those immediately preceding your retirement.

*Wages include regular salary, overtime, and recurring longevity payments earned within the period used to determine final average salary.