•• SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) •• Holders of the biggest portion of Stockton's debt insured $165 million in bonds the city issued in 2007 to keep up with payments to the California Public Employees Retirement System as property taxes plummeted during the recession.**********
So far, Stockton has kept up with pension payments while reneging on other debts, maintaining it needs a strong pension plan to retain its pared-down workforce.
Stockton has tried to restructure some debt by slashing employment, renegotiating labor contracts, and cutting health benefits for workers. Library and recreation funding have been halved, and the scaled-down Police Department only responds to emergencies in progress. The city crime rate is among the highest in the nation.
RELATED: Remember Dalton's big crackdown...
...on the teachers union? Looks like happy days are here again.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Education said the costs of "THE SHIFT" were offset by "greater savings than anticipated" in the 2012-13 school year.So Dalton bails before Ontario realises the extent of their debt woes... and his successor starts undoing even that.
"The cost is net neutral," he said.
He would not discuss the exact cost of the shift.
Hey, it's only money... right?
**********
LAST WORD: In other bankruptcy news...
Canada’s largest provincial labour federation is facing a pension fund deficit, and accounting and solvency experts suggest the Ontario Federation of Labour may need to lay off workers or even trim employees’ benefits if the situation doesn’t improve.Oh my.
Financial conditions in fiscal 2012 (ended June 30) “indicate the existence of a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt about the Federation’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
The OFL has run deficits for the past two years, and liabilities, led by pension obligations, far outstrip assets on the balance sheet.
