UPDATED: RI Think Tank Web Site Discloses Retirees’ Individual Benefits
Thursday, October 27, 2011
The Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity launched today an 'open government' Web site that adds detailed new information to the current pension reform debate in the Ocean State. The site allows those who register for their site to search databases and see the payments to each individual retirees' benefits.
The Web site, www.RIOpenGov.org, is an interactive online database of public employee pension data for current ERSRI retirees. The site requires users to register before seeing the data.
The data, which can be viewed in both table and graph modes, was provided by ERSRI (the Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island) through an open records request. The Web site was developed by Visible Government Online.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe information for 26,598 pensioners can be sorted or searched by name, retirement year, benefit type, 2010 gross pension, and disability type, among many other criteria. The Web site breaks out base annual pension as well as the COLA portion, and also estimates future payments - both with and without a COLA. The disclosure is sure to create a reaction.
"Our Center has invested in this tool as part of our open government agenda because we feel it is important that complete transparency be provided to the public for this crucial debate about the future well-being of our state pensioners and for our state and local economies. All Rhode Islanders may be affected by the pending reform and have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent", said Mike Stenhouse, CEO for the Center for Freedom. "Once you browse the wealth of data on our site, you will see that it is not fair to paint all pensioners with a single brush. Citizens will now be able to make their own judgments as to whether or not certain retiree benefits are essential to sustaining a reasonable level of retirement or if they may seem excessive."
According to Michael Walker, President of Visible Government Online, which has also developed pension websites for other states in New England, the average Rhode Island pension payment in 2010 was $31,388 (including COLA): In Massachusetts the average payment was $29,043, while in Maine it was $20,270.
The site provides a tool where visitors can change the COLA assumption and view the effect on estimated future payments. As various reform provisions are debated, current pensioners listed will also able to estimate the effects of COLA changes on their own individual pensions
Related Articles
- Pension Reform Breakdown: Plan Kills COLAs For 19 Years
- Donna Perry: The COLA Advantage
- EXCLUSIVE: COLAs Killing State Pension System
- Frozen COLAs Will Cost Millions
- PODCAST: EXCLUSIVE: COLAs Killing State Pension System
