According to the budget, spending on public schools will barely decline at all, even with pensions tabulated separately. Including pensions public school spending will almost certainly increase. Remember that, and the fact that the city’s non-teacher school expenditures are exceptionally low, when evaluating the education the United Federation of Teachers decides to provide in exchange for your taxes next year. Overall pension contributions will rise by $851 million dollars, taking into account past investment losses and retroactive pension enhancements, according to the budget. “In 2010, however, the pension funds are experiencing positive investment returns which are expected to lower required contributions commencing in 2012.” Those positive investment returns are based on financial assets becoming overpriced. See today’s financial news for a possible market response. The Chief Actuary is reviewing actual pension trends, and the city has set aside $600 million extra to cover the possible findings. It will not be enough, if the pensions are to be actually funded.
As public services are gutted in FY 2011, remember that its debt service will rise by just $340 million (assuming the text is right and not the table on p. 224), followed by an increase of nearly $2.5 billion a year later in FY 2012. That’s also when the federal stimulus spending runs out. And even more pension contributions are required, particularly for teachers, thanks to the 2008 deal that allowed them to retire years earlier. For the possibility of additional federal stimulus spending despite a large deficit, see the market response to conditions in Greece. Reality may wait for FY 2012, but it may also come sooner – after the state elections in November. Even before reality hits, the city will cut spending on libraries by well more than half. In this moment of need, moreover, help for the poor will also be cut. Excluding Medicaid, which is taken advantage of by the health care industry and the middle class and will rise a projected $243 million, not enough for the health care industry to stop objecting to cuts and threatening to let our babies die if they don’t get more. All this despite a series of city and state tax increases already enacted.
This is a great day for the state legislature, former Governor Pataki, the members of the public employee unions who are retired or have seniority, the Greater New York Hospital Association and Local 1199. Once the City Council restores the cuts to senior centers by cutting everything else more, this will be a great day for Generation Greed in general. And better ones are coming. They’ll be no doubt that they took all there was to take, and will leave as little as possible behind in exchange. And they aren’t giving anything back, either.