Contra Costa Taxpayer News

• The Contra Costa County Auditor-Controller has released the earnings information for County employees. SFGATE has data for several counties as well as local cities at http://www.sfgate.com/webdb/citypay/   

          Contra Costa positions earning $100,000 or more in 2007 sorted by 

        overtime:  cccwageearners 2007 over $100,000 by Descending OT.pdf       

        Contra Costa positions earning $100,000 or more in 2007 by earnings:

        cccwageearners 2007 over $100,000.pdf

        Contra Costa wagearner data: cccwageearners 2007 e-mail file alpha.pdf 

• YES ON 98, NO ON 99.  It was not until the 2005 Kelo decision that most people learned that their home, business, farm, or church could be taken by a government through the use (or threat of use) of eminent domain and given to another private party to develop. Since that time 41 states have changed their laws to protect property owner rights.  This June, California voters have a chance to change the state constitution and safeguard property rights.  Prop 98, which the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the Farm Bureau placed on the ballot, provides comprehensive protection for all property owners.  Prop 99, which the League of Cities placed on the ballot, protects only owner-occupied housing. However, the Institute for Justice, the group that took the Kelo case to the Supreme Court, believes that this measure is so weakly written that it is fatally flawed.  Prop 99 also contains a poison pill, so it both propositions pass, and 99 has even one more vote than 98, the only the provisions of Prop 99 will go into force.       

• April 8, 2008: the BOS passed a contract with the County nurses. They did not deal with retiree health. The one concession to health care costs, was to ask employees to absorb changes in copayments should there be any during the term of the contract. Currently the County's most popular plans are run by the County with minimal ($5) or no copayments. The County, as the employer, picks up 98% of the cost.  This is the 4th contract signed by the BOS within a month that does not deal seriously either with health care or retiree health care.

• April 7, 2008: County Administrator, John Cullen, released a memo telling the approximately 1300 management and unrepresented (non-union) employees that he will recommend that the County will freeze the employer contribution for health care benefits at the 2009 level along with some other fundamental changes that should have been in place years ago (such as requiring that employees be required to enroll in Medicare once they qualify.)  A copy of the memo is attached.  The BOS will be announcing the new OPEB liability for the County (this is for retiree health and the last calculation showed the County owed $2.6 billion) along with these recommendations on April 15. The BOS has not prepared staff for this possibility because they have continued to understate the County's financial problems. John Cullen Memo on Management & Unrepresented Health Care.pdf      

• These are some basic solutions for the County's OPEB problems    OPEB SOLUTIONS From CoCoTax.doc

• Latest edition of the Contra Costa Taxpayer Election Winter 2008 Newsletter email.pdf

• The Governor's Post-Employment Commission dealt Contra Costa County's plan for dealing with the County's $3 billion retiree health care problem a major blow. The Commission's Report stated unequivocally that retiree health care benefits should be funded at 100% rather than the 40% goal the Board of Supervisors has set for the next 30 years.  The Commission's report can be found at: http://www.pebc.ca.gov/

• If you want to know how your tax dollars are being spent check out the 2007 Piglet book at www.hjta.org  You will find it both informative and depressing!

• The Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association (www.hjta.org) has released its Legislative Report Card for 2007: state lawmakers from our area were rated as follows:  

                           Senator Tom Torlakson = F 

                           Assemblyman Mark DeSaulnier = F 

                           Assemblywoman Loni Hancock = F

                           Assemblyman Guy Houston = A

• The Contra Costa Economic Partnership just released an excellent report on Managing Public Retiree Healthcare Costs. The report not only covers the critical problem of the County, but also details the issues in the cities as well as select school districts and some special districts. The cost of retiree health in the public sector is the biggest financial problem facing the County. CCEP OPEB Report.pdf

• Executive Director Kris Hunt testifies at the Governor's Post Employee Benefits Commission hearing in Burlingame July 12 2007 pension commission testimony.doc

• Initiative filed to solve the future problems with public employee pensions and health care Filing Press Release.doc; Filed Version.doc; Questions and Answers.doc

• CoCoTax Executive Director Kris Hunt appears on CBS5 to explain risks of health care deficit. Click here to view video.

• The Contra Costa County OPEB Task Force published an excellent report on the County's growing problem with retiree health care. (OPEB stands for Other Post Employment Benefits.) The County has a $2.6 billion Retiree Health Care liability.  Where the County is now paying $36 million a year for health care, to fully cover the benefits they have promised retirees, the true cost is $227 million. What happened and some ways in which this can be addressed are outlined in Taskforce Report published on March 1, 2007. Click here to see their report.