Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Earlier in the show and the very top of the
show in two o'clock we had Mayor Jean Stothard on
and she was outlining some of the things that she
wants people to keep in mind ahead of the general
election next Tuesday. Full disclosure. I have invited Matt and
I have worked on ways to try to invite John
Ewing back on the show between now an election day.
Have him been able to confirm a time with the campaign,
(00:20):
We would love to have him be on the show
to talk about his plans and some of the stuff
that he's been saying in person and have questions about it,
and one of these things seems to be somewhat confusing
for me, So as always, you want to have somebody
who knows a bit more about these things and how
it could affect Omaha residents. So got a hold of
my guy, Jim Vocal from the Plant Institute and he
(00:41):
is sitting here in the studio with me. Jim, thanks
so much for being on Good Afternoon. Okay, So this
has to deal with police officer pensions, and this is
kind of a solution if you will, that John Ewing
has suggested as far as it goes for increasing the
staff for the Omaha, PA Police Department. Can you explain
exactly how this would work and how it actually could
(01:04):
really affect Omaha residents.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, based on what I've read, it sounds like the
proposal would be to allow the employee to contribute less
into the pension system. So let's take a step back,
and I spent eight years on the city council, and
obviously now we've studied this issue at the Platt Institute.
The Omaha Police Fire and Pension system last fall had
(01:27):
over a six hundred million dollar unfunded liability. So what
does that mean. The assets that currently are in the plan,
compared to the future liabilities moving forward, do not cover
that future obligation of the city. And that's the result
of various contract negotiations and a lot of different variables
that go into those contracts. So there's three things that
(01:49):
can affect whether that unfunded liability goes up or it
goes down. The rate to return, obviously, and the assumptions
that are made there, the amount that the employer or
the City of Omaha contributes, and the amount that the
employee or the police officer or fire personnel contribute. So
if you decrease either the rate, the employer contribution or
(02:10):
the employee contribution. Then that unfunded liability is going to
grow unless one of two three things happens. The employer
then increases that more, and that could result in Omaha
taxpayers possibly playing higher taxes because now more money is
needed in the budget to go towards the unfunded liability
to cover the offset because the employees contributing less. The
(02:34):
other thing that may happen is because the city's employee
contributing more to the system, it's gonna be less dollars
available for city services. One final thing, the bond rating
agencies pay a significant amount of attention to the city's
unfunded liability, and so if that's growing, that could affect
the cost of borrowing, which also could affect the taxpayer.
(02:55):
So I'm not I can't predict the future, but I
do know that if if you cut back from what
the employee is contributing to the plan, then the city
is going to have to step up in all probability.
And if the city steps up, that's less resources available
for city services and maybe more revenue is going to
be required through a tax increase.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
We're speaking with Jim Vocal from the Plat Institute. Again,
this is something that for I would imagine most of
my audience, much like me, you know, a lot of
the I well, like in the statement just kind of
goes over your head. And I'm not related to anybody
in the police department, so I'm not exactly sure how
important the amount of the pension itself, like how much
(03:37):
you put in makes a difference to some people. But
at the end of the day, when you're saying that
in lieu of a essentially the police officers can put
less money into the pension based on what the rules are,
somebody else is going to have to put that money in.
And if it's the City of Omaha, that false to
tax payer feet. Is that kind of how it reads.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yeah, because all the city services and contributions are are
supported by generally taxes and fees, and so that would
fall on in essence a lot of taxpayers. Now the
City of Alma wouldn't necessarily have to contribute more, but
if you don't, then unfunded liability is going to grow
even further. So I looked at the actuarial report from
(04:19):
last fall, and there has been some progress made over
the last few years, and some of the changes in
the contracts that have put the stability of the unfunded
liability on a better track. Right, And as I mentioned before,
the unfunded liability last fall was over six hundred million dollars.
And so if you tinker with that and then in
(04:40):
a negative way on one of those three levers, then
that unfunded liability is going to grow unless the rate
of return for some reason goes to double digits or
something like that. So you've got to be very cognizant
of some of these nuances when when we're talking about
pension systems, and I think it's just important I understand
and the impact for a lot of taxpayers.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Yeah, we're always thinking about what we're doing, and I
know that people have a bunch of different things that
they're thinking about before they go to the polls on
Tuesday and vote in the mayor's race. As far as
taxes themselves are concerned, this is something that you pay
very close attention to. With the Plat Institute, how do
you can you give us like kind of a letter
grade on what you think we're paying based on the
(05:24):
rate of return that we're getting as citizens from the
City of Omaha.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
So let me take a step back and just say
where we rank as a state. We have the eighth
highest property taxes in the whole country, and that's largely
because valuations have gone up and generally the rates haven't
come down enough to offset that. You know, a lot
of people like to blame the assessors, but I don't
want to defend them. But they're doing their jobs. They
have to the value the homes up to one hundred
(05:50):
percent of market value. So we've got to look at
whether or not those rates are coming down. And I'm
not going to go on air and say whether or
not we're doing a good job or not. I just
know that we have the eight highest property taxes. I
think that it's important to be cognizant than of where
those dollars are going once valuations go up, regarding either
(06:10):
rates coming down or how we prioritizing those extra moneies.
As far as when budgets do go.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Up, it makes sense to be having egle eyes and
watching on potential down the line horizon level tax increases
in that regard, considering how much we're already paying. Is
there anything that you would suggest, Jim, as we wrap
up here, anything that you would suggest to people as
they try to learn more about where their money is
going as they pay taxes into not just the city
(06:38):
of Omaha, but the county and also the state.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Well, yeah, I think it's critically important to take a look.
Now we have those postcards that come out for the city,
the county was community colleges, but school districts. School districts
represent almost sixty percent of your property taxes in the
Omah public schools. They have a billion dollar pension problem,
by the way, so it's important to look there. But
(07:01):
I think it's important when your valuations go up, you
want to throw that discessor sheet across the room and
get pretty upset. But I think what's critical is that
you take a look at the city, the county, the
school districts, the three top three specifically, and look how
they're spending those how much property taxes are coming in,
and how are they spending it. Are you happy with
(07:23):
if the budgets are growing or if they're not. Are
you happy with how they're prioritizing that. Are they lowering
or dropping the levy rate to help provide some relief
for taxpayers. I think those are the things that's important.
But I'll conclude with this. You know, I spent eight
years on the city council. We had our budget hearings
generally in the evening, and how many people show up?
And if you've got the schools as an example, representing
(07:46):
sixty percent of your property tax bill, how many times
have you gone to a school board meeting and looked
at their budget and testified and talked about taxes. So
our organization champion three years ago the Truth and Taxation process,
which now has a step hearing besides the budget hearing,
which shows you the postcards come shows exactly how much
the city, the county, or the school is raising your
(08:08):
property taxes in dollars. Gives you an opportunity to now
go to a separate hearing in the evening on the
day when we're all working, and express your concerns or
your input about how taxes are going up and whether
or not you're happy with how they're spending the resources.
So I guess my point is is be engaged. Look
(08:28):
at the budgets. Don't just look at your assessor assessment statement.
If your valuation's going up, dig deeper. Look at the
decisions that elected officials are making with those dollars. How
can people. Learn more about the Plat Institute, you can
go to Platinstitute dot org. I have a weekly newsletter
that comes out every Wednesday. We have over seventeen thousand subscribers.
(08:49):
It's about a ninety second read every Wednesday, talking about
the policy issues that affect our state. We're knee deep
in the legislature right now. They're trying to close a
budget hole and looking at tax policy as well, and
so we talk a lot about that, and we're doing
a lot to inform the public about public policy, not
(09:10):
only in the city but for the whole state. So
I encourage you to visit that website, sign up, but
most importantly, engage your elected officials. We have all I
shouldn't say we have all, but we have great ideas
of the PLAT ins DOO, we have the research, we
have the solutions that working across the country, but it
really takes your listeners and taxpayers across the state and
in this city to engage their elected officials and digest
(09:32):
that policy information and contact them to try to determine
or try to get change if that's what we want
here in Oman.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Jim Vocal with the Plaid Institute, thank you so much
for the time and the expertise today, and I'm sure
we'll be chatting again soon.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Yeah, thanks Emery.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
All right, it is three forty nine more coming up
on the Way Stick with us on news Radio eleven
ten Kfab and Raise Longer
Earlier in the show and the very top of the
show in two o'clock we had Mayor Jean Stothard on
and she was outlining some of the things that she
wants people to keep in mind ahead of the general
election next Tuesday. Full disclosure. I have invited Matt and
I have worked on ways to try to invite John
Ewing back on the show between now an election day.
Have him been able to confirm a time with the campaign,
(00:20):
We would love to have him be on the show
to talk about his plans and some of the stuff
that he's been saying in person and have questions about it,
and one of these things seems to be somewhat confusing
for me, So as always, you want to have somebody
who knows a bit more about these things and how
it could affect Omaha residents. So got a hold of
my guy, Jim Vocal from the Plant Institute and he
(00:41):
is sitting here in the studio with me. Jim, thanks
so much for being on Good Afternoon. Okay, So this
has to deal with police officer pensions, and this is
kind of a solution if you will, that John Ewing
has suggested as far as it goes for increasing the
staff for the Omaha, PA Police Department. Can you explain
exactly how this would work and how it actually could
(01:04):
really affect Omaha residents.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, based on what I've read, it sounds like the
proposal would be to allow the employee to contribute less
into the pension system. So let's take a step back,
and I spent eight years on the city council, and
obviously now we've studied this issue at the Platt Institute.
The Omaha Police Fire and Pension system last fall had
(01:27):
over a six hundred million dollar unfunded liability. So what
does that mean. The assets that currently are in the plan,
compared to the future liabilities moving forward, do not cover
that future obligation of the city. And that's the result
of various contract negotiations and a lot of different variables
that go into those contracts. So there's three things that
(01:49):
can affect whether that unfunded liability goes up or it
goes down. The rate to return, obviously, and the assumptions
that are made there, the amount that the employer or
the City of Omaha contributes, and the amount that the
employee or the police officer or fire personnel contribute. So
if you decrease either the rate, the employer contribution or
(02:10):
the employee contribution. Then that unfunded liability is going to
grow unless one of two three things happens. The employer
then increases that more, and that could result in Omaha
taxpayers possibly playing higher taxes because now more money is
needed in the budget to go towards the unfunded liability
to cover the offset because the employees contributing less. The
(02:34):
other thing that may happen is because the city's employee
contributing more to the system, it's gonna be less dollars
available for city services. One final thing, the bond rating
agencies pay a significant amount of attention to the city's
unfunded liability, and so if that's growing, that could affect
the cost of borrowing, which also could affect the taxpayer.
(02:55):
So I'm not I can't predict the future, but I
do know that if if you cut back from what
the employee is contributing to the plan, then the city
is going to have to step up in all probability.
And if the city steps up, that's less resources available
for city services and maybe more revenue is going to
be required through a tax increase.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
We're speaking with Jim Vocal from the Plat Institute. Again,
this is something that for I would imagine most of
my audience, much like me, you know, a lot of
the I well, like in the statement just kind of
goes over your head. And I'm not related to anybody
in the police department, so I'm not exactly sure how
important the amount of the pension itself, like how much
(03:37):
you put in makes a difference to some people. But
at the end of the day, when you're saying that
in lieu of a essentially the police officers can put
less money into the pension based on what the rules are,
somebody else is going to have to put that money in.
And if it's the City of Omaha, that false to
tax payer feet. Is that kind of how it reads.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yeah, because all the city services and contributions are are
supported by generally taxes and fees, and so that would
fall on in essence a lot of taxpayers. Now the
City of Alma wouldn't necessarily have to contribute more, but
if you don't, then unfunded liability is going to grow
even further. So I looked at the actuarial report from
(04:19):
last fall, and there has been some progress made over
the last few years, and some of the changes in
the contracts that have put the stability of the unfunded
liability on a better track. Right, And as I mentioned before,
the unfunded liability last fall was over six hundred million dollars.
And so if you tinker with that and then in
(04:40):
a negative way on one of those three levers, then
that unfunded liability is going to grow unless the rate
of return for some reason goes to double digits or
something like that. So you've got to be very cognizant
of some of these nuances when when we're talking about
pension systems, and I think it's just important I understand
and the impact for a lot of taxpayers.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Yeah, we're always thinking about what we're doing, and I
know that people have a bunch of different things that
they're thinking about before they go to the polls on
Tuesday and vote in the mayor's race. As far as
taxes themselves are concerned, this is something that you pay
very close attention to. With the Plat Institute, how do
you can you give us like kind of a letter
grade on what you think we're paying based on the
(05:24):
rate of return that we're getting as citizens from the
City of Omaha.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
So let me take a step back and just say
where we rank as a state. We have the eighth
highest property taxes in the whole country, and that's largely
because valuations have gone up and generally the rates haven't
come down enough to offset that. You know, a lot
of people like to blame the assessors, but I don't
want to defend them. But they're doing their jobs. They
have to the value the homes up to one hundred
(05:50):
percent of market value. So we've got to look at
whether or not those rates are coming down. And I'm
not going to go on air and say whether or
not we're doing a good job or not. I just
know that we have the eight highest property taxes. I
think that it's important to be cognizant than of where
those dollars are going once valuations go up, regarding either
(06:10):
rates coming down or how we prioritizing those extra moneies.
As far as when budgets do go.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Up, it makes sense to be having egle eyes and
watching on potential down the line horizon level tax increases
in that regard, considering how much we're already paying. Is
there anything that you would suggest, Jim, as we wrap
up here, anything that you would suggest to people as
they try to learn more about where their money is
going as they pay taxes into not just the city
(06:38):
of Omaha, but the county and also the state.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Well, yeah, I think it's critically important to take a look.
Now we have those postcards that come out for the city,
the county was community colleges, but school districts. School districts
represent almost sixty percent of your property taxes in the
Omah public schools. They have a billion dollar pension problem,
by the way, so it's important to look there. But
(07:01):
I think it's important when your valuations go up, you
want to throw that discessor sheet across the room and
get pretty upset. But I think what's critical is that
you take a look at the city, the county, the
school districts, the three top three specifically, and look how
they're spending those how much property taxes are coming in,
and how are they spending it. Are you happy with
(07:23):
if the budgets are growing or if they're not. Are
you happy with how they're prioritizing that. Are they lowering
or dropping the levy rate to help provide some relief
for taxpayers. I think those are the things that's important.
But I'll conclude with this. You know, I spent eight
years on the city council. We had our budget hearings
generally in the evening, and how many people show up?
And if you've got the schools as an example, representing
(07:46):
sixty percent of your property tax bill, how many times
have you gone to a school board meeting and looked
at their budget and testified and talked about taxes. So
our organization champion three years ago the Truth and Taxation process,
which now has a step hearing besides the budget hearing,
which shows you the postcards come shows exactly how much
the city, the county, or the school is raising your
(08:08):
property taxes in dollars. Gives you an opportunity to now
go to a separate hearing in the evening on the
day when we're all working, and express your concerns or
your input about how taxes are going up and whether
or not you're happy with how they're spending the resources.
So I guess my point is is be engaged. Look
(08:28):
at the budgets. Don't just look at your assessor assessment statement.
If your valuation's going up, dig deeper. Look at the
decisions that elected officials are making with those dollars. How
can people. Learn more about the Plat Institute, you can
go to Platinstitute dot org. I have a weekly newsletter
that comes out every Wednesday. We have over seventeen thousand subscribers.
(08:49):
It's about a ninety second read every Wednesday, talking about
the policy issues that affect our state. We're knee deep
in the legislature right now. They're trying to close a
budget hole and looking at tax policy as well, and
so we talk a lot about that, and we're doing
a lot to inform the public about public policy, not
(09:10):
only in the city but for the whole state. So
I encourage you to visit that website, sign up, but
most importantly, engage your elected officials. We have all I
shouldn't say we have all, but we have great ideas
of the PLAT ins DOO, we have the research, we
have the solutions that working across the country, but it
really takes your listeners and taxpayers across the state and
in this city to engage their elected officials and digest
(09:32):
that policy information and contact them to try to determine
or try to get change if that's what we want
here in Oman.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Jim Vocal with the Plaid Institute, thank you so much
for the time and the expertise today, and I'm sure
we'll be chatting again soon.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Yeah, thanks Emery.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
All right, it is three forty nine more coming up
on the Way Stick with us on news Radio eleven
ten Kfab and Raise Longer
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