Aristotle Hutras was the director of the Ohio Retirement Study Council from 1990-2011.
I began my public service in 1973 and had the good fortune to work alongside four diligent and thoughtful Ohio budget directors, Democratic and Republican.
I agree with their May 10 Dispatch guest column. Democrats Bill Shkurti and Pari Sabety and Republicans Greg Browning and Tom Johnson pointed out, “schools, cities and towns will collapse if property taxes are killed.”
A May 19 Cincinnati Enquirer article reports there also are plans in the General Assembly to phase out the state income tax.
To add to the attacks on public goods and services, some anti-government forces appear to be targeting Ohio’s public pension systems. Project 2025, a radical conservative
playbook, openly aims to destabilize public pensions.
Unlike many states, Ohio’s public pensions do not rely on a direct infusion from the state’s general operating budget.
Th Buckeye States has five pension systems: OPERS Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, School Employees Retirement System of Ohio, Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund and Ohio Highway Patrol Rertirement System.
They are financed by a three-pillar model: mandatory employee contributions, employer contributions and returns generated by the systems’ investments.
They have assets of $284 billion and contribute approximately $18 billion to Ohio’s economy, spread over all 88 Ohio counties. The pensions have obligations to approximately 2 million Ohioans.
Public employees’ pensions become someone else’s paycheck when the money is spent, just like steelworkers’ pensions in my hometown and across northeastern Ohio’s steel valley, or the pensions of rubber workers in Akron, auto workers in Lordstown and coal miners across southeastern Ohio.
Those communities had the best hospitals, doctors, schools and roads. There were few nursing homes because children could stay in their homes and hometowns, taking care of aging parents and grandparents.
Pensions provided intergenerational security for workers and the greater community. The local watering hole had enough money that the proprietor could cash workers’ checks after their shifts.
The Ohio State Teachers Retirement System, established in 1920, predates Social Security.
Social Security, established in 1935, is scheduled to become insolvent in late 2032 or 2034, based on estimates from the Social Security Board of Trustees and the Congressional Budget Office, because there is no political will to do the right thing.
Public pensions are paid for by the payroll contributions of employees and their employers. They are the people who keep our communities safe, teach our children, clear roads of snow and ice, and make and interpret our laws.
We cannot continue to elect those who have no respect for government and the science of governing. Political science is the systematic study of government, public policies and processes to inform wise decisions. It is rooted in ancient Greek philosophy, evolving from the study of ethics, history and law.
Regarding taxes, an ancient Greek proverb states: “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit.” It is a profound statement of selflessness, long-term thinking and intergenerational stewardship.
Aristotle Hutras was the director of the Ohio Retirement Study Council from 1990-2011. The council is one of the oldest public pension legislative oversight councils in the country. Prior to that, he served as executive secretary of the Ohio House of Representatives.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio can't let its public pension systems fall to political forces | Opinion
