The Taxpayers contribute about 80% of the money to fund the Police and Fire Pension system.  That’s right 80%!  Police and Fire participants in the pension plan ONLY CONTRIBUTE 10%.  The remainder comes from insurance premiums.

In spite of all this, Taxpayers only have a 40% say in how the Police and Fire Pension Fund is managed.  Of the five members who oversee  Police and Fire Pension Fund (PFPF), only two are appointed by City Council on behalf of the Taxpayer.  The  PFPF is poorly managed.  Administrative costs are high and the funds under perform relative to similar pension funds.

It is no coincidence that the PFPF fights every attempt at transparency as they collect high salaries and enjoy lucrative benefits.

At the very least, Taxpayers deserve to have a proportional representation on the PFPF board of trustees.  To that end, the Concerned Taxpayers of Duval County has adopted the following resolution.

Resolution adopted by Concerned Taxpayers of Duval Co. on January 9, 2012

To the Mayor and City Council ofJacksonvilleFL:

WHEREAS, the City of Jacksonville (“City”) provides about 80% of the funds that are contributed from all sources to the Jacksonville Police & Fire Pension Fund (“PFPF”), and this percentage is projected to increase; and

WHEREAS, the employees participating in the PFPF provide about 10% of the funds that are contributed from all sources to the PFPF, and this percentage is likely to decrease; and

WHEREAS, the remaining contributions to the PFPF principally come from premium taxes collected by the State respecting Duval County properties, and this percentage is also likely to decrease; and

WHEREAS, the PFPF is administered by a 5 member board of trustees, which invests assets, incurs liabilities, hires staff, and makes various expenditures, which in recent years have exceeded $7 million per year, exclusive of benefit payments; and

WHEREAS, employees participating in (benefiting from) the PFPF elect 2 of the trustees of the PFPF, while the City Council, on behalf of the City, appoints 2 of the trustees of the PFPF; and

WHEREAS, those 4 trustees of the PFPF choose a 5th trustee, who the City Council must by law appoint (ratify) as a ministerial matter; and

WHEREAS, the City thus directly appoints only 2 out of 5 trustees of the PFPF, and thereby lacks the power to control the operations of the PFPF; and

WHEREAS, the City needs to have, and deserves to have, the chance to exercise control over PFPF operations, because the City provides 80% of all contributions to the PFPF, and thus all decisions by the PFPF trustees principally affect the City and its taxpayers; and

WHEREAS, State legislation adopted in 2011 empowers the City to modify local law to directly appoint 3 of 5 PFPF trustees (see Curtis Lee’s letter to City Council et al dated Dec. 7, 2011); and

WHEREAS, such a change is not only fair, but proper because the PFPF has very high operating costs, substantial waste and abuse, and poor investment results; i.e., it has a poor track record;

WHEREAS, all existing PFPF trustees and executives have served at least 5 years, and many have served more than 20 years, with the result being that all such incumbents are implicated in the waste, abuse and poor financial results that afflict the PFPF; and

WHEREAS, a failure by the City to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the 2011 State legislation will result in continued harm to City taxpayers, because the PFPF has a poor track record, and is very costly to taxpayers – the PFPF costs the City and its taxpayers over 8% of the City’s General Fund Budget currently, and such percentage is projected to increase;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council and administration should obtain legal opinions and take all necessary action to effectuate such changes in local law, and then should appoint 3 new trustees of the PFPF, with the objective of replacing current management of the PFPF, reducing costs, waste and abuse, and reforming the PFPF.

Board members Tony Bates and John Winkler talk about corporate welfare and the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission.

Tony Bates, John Winkler and Connie Benham talk about proposed changes to the timing of local elections and corporate welfare.

Directors John Winkler, Curt Lee talk with Florida Senate District 1 candidate Ramon Day about the city budget and pensions.

Board Member John Winkler talks with Florida Senate District 1 candidate Ramon Day about his campaign.

Board member John Winkler discusses public pensions with pension expert Curtis Lee.

Board member John Winkler discusses recent elections and other topics with Republican Liberty Caucus chairman and fellow CTDC board member Continue Reading

Paid political advertisement paid for by the Concerned Taxpayers of Duval County, Inc., PO Box 2307, Jacksonville, FL 32202, independently Continue Reading

President Victor Wilhelm and board member John Winkler talk about the CTDC Voters Guide and also interviews candidates for local Continue Reading

THE CONCERNED TAXPAYERS OF DUVAL COUNTY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Saturday April 23rd 2011

The nonpartisan Concerned Taxpayers of Duval County, Inc. [CTDC], is pleased to announce the publication and beginning of distribution of its second edition of its Voter Guide, a portable document file version of which is attached, covering the Jacksonville consolidated municipal election of Tuesday May 17th, 2011.

John Winkler, Candidate Committee chair, says: “As promised, the Candidate Committee reconvened and the few surviving candidates who had not responded to our questionnaire, originally sent out in late December, were given yet another opportunity to respond. Several did so and were given a second chance to interview. We even included responses to the questionnaire from one candidate who missed our deadline. Additionally, three new interviews have been made available for the voters to review online through www.jaxtaxpayers.org. The committee deliberated the merits of any further modification to existing endorsements as well as the consideration of endorsements for races where we had not previously arrived at a satisfactory conclusion.”

Winkler added: “This second edition of the voter’s guide reaffirms CTDC’s commitment to represent the interests of the Taxpayers and all our citizens in a nonpartisan and unbiased manner. No group has done this level of research and investigation into the consideration of candidates while also making the process entirely transparent.”

Victor Wilhelm, president of the Concerned Taxpayers, says: “We are excited with the overwhelming positive response from the community for the first edition of the voter’s guide where we successfully distributed over 80,000 prints. We received dozens of phone calls and emails praising the overall effort. Even those who did not agree with all our picks said that they found value in the guide and having read it, were better prepared to make an informed vote. While we obviously have our preferences for the election on May 17th, our primary goal was to help inform voters and bring information that would assist individuals to arrive at one’s own conclusions as well.”

Additional information is available at www.jaxtaxpayers.org as well as from the author of this press release, John Winkler, Candidate Committee Chair, (904) 384-9918.

The Concerned Taxpayers of Duval County, Inc. is a not for profit corporation and nonpartisan political committee dedicated to serving the community as a watchdog group, supporting ethical, transparent provision of public services while opposing corruption, waste, and tomfoolery in government.

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President Victor Wilhelm and board member John Winkler analyze the March elections in Jacksonville.