You have certainly heard me complain about how the State has made decisions on the public pension program that increases our costs. The 2010 State budget is about to be adopted with just such a decision.  

    The State is skipping $3 billion in pension payments it owes this year. Besides not living with the same rules they have set for us, the failure to make this payment will cost us more in the coming years. Towns don't have that luxury. We can't get out of the system and we can't change the system.

    While Collingswood has seen its State pension bill rise from $175,000 in 2005 to $1.2 million in 2010, the State's decision, in the midst of speeches that property taxes are so high because towns don't control costs, will further increase our costs. By not making the payment, the pension's actuarial picture will be worse than it would be with the payment.  

    It's being lost in all the State kudos for controlling the budget without raising taxes, but it is another step that will absolutely raise property taxes.