The Cost of Public Sector Benefits

             And the numbers are in..... Thoughts?

•  In 2001 taxpayers contributed $423 million dollars to state employee health insurance premiums, while in 2011 taxpayers contributed more than $1 billion dollars.  In 2011, state employees paid $64 million toward their health insurance, or about 5.6% of the total cost. (ETF Health Care Analysis)
• From 2001 to 2010 taxpayers spent more than $8 billion dollars on state employee health care coverage—over the same period of time state employees contributed about $398 million. (ETF Health Care Analysis)
• Public employers contributed almost $1.37 billion to the state’s pension fund in 2009, while employees contributed about $8 million, or about 0.6%. (LFB paper 84 Wisconsin Retirement System, Table 28)
• From 2000 to 2009 taxpayers spent about $12.6 billion on public employee pensions, during the same period public employees contributed $55.4 million. (LFB paper 84 Wisconsin Retirement System, Table 28)
• When looking at state operations, state employees account for about 60% of taxpayer cost—77% of state operations for the UW are employees, 70% for corrections, 63% for health services. (State Budget Office Memo 2-9-11)
• Wisconsin taxpayers currently make nearly a 100% payment for the employee portion of the public sector pension contribution.  Illinois and Indiana taxpayers contribute the entire employee portion as well, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio pay 0% of the employee contribution. (State Budget Office Memo 2-9-11)
• Public employees in Wisconsin are vested in the retirement system immediately, while in Illinois it takes 8 years, 10 years in Indiana, 4 years in Iowa, 10 years in Michigan, 3 years in Minnesota, and 5 years in Ohio.  (State Budget Office Memo 2-9-11)
• Survey data finds that private employer HMO plans in Wisconsin typically require a co-pay of $18 per office visit, $45 per specialist visit, $75 per emergency room visit, or $175 in-patient treatment.  The average health insurance premium for these plans averaged $108 per month for single coverage and $261 for family. (State Budget Office Memo 2-9-11)
• Taxpayers spent $733 million of general purpose revenue on fringe benefits for state employees in fiscal year 2010. (State Budget Office Memo 2-9-11)
• Fringe benefits made up 25.6% of school district expenditures in 2008-09.  (State Budget Office Memo 2-9-11)