The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-10-30
City's Pension Bill Defended By Mayor c. Q. P. Charged With "cUrryins
 FovOr" By Misrepresentation
 Reviews Controversy

Mayor John s. Monagan defended the administration's stand on the city's pension bill last night in a radio address In which he attacked Raymond E. Snyder, his mayoralty opponent, COP leaders and the Republican" press.
 Pointing out that Republican op- ponents to the present bill had urged adoption of Q measure which would have necessitated establishment of $600yO00 reserve for 30-year period for purposes of creating a fund of $l0 million, the Mayor scored this proposal on the basis cf it's being excessive and without imperative need. The need for higher taxes to meet such a con- tingency, he declared, would, like all increased municipal taxes, "de- feat themselves as they deter both business and private home owners from creating taxable values.
 Seeking Favor
 Claiming that Republican 1ead- CTS sought only to "curry favor with city employees by their tactics, Mayor Monaga1 bitterly assailed what he termed to be "phony con- slderation" for these city employees as manifested by the Republican leadership whom he accused oi playing "politics".
 Claiming that he welcomed the opportunity to contrast my atti- tude with that of those who claim to represent the Republican view point of this city," the incumbent mayoralty candidate scored COZ leaders as persons whose foremost interest in seeking a part in the city's pension plans as attempting to embarrass the administration.
 We come now to the history o! what transpired in getting 8 pen sion bill passed.
 "The Pension Commission em' ployed an actuary and started or It's work in February, 1944. AS have stated before, the committee on the whole, freed itself from DO litical influence and proceeded t do its best with a delicate and diff ficult task. Tn accordance witf the instructions of the law whicf created 1t, the Commission pre- pared a report and also prepared a proposed bill which 1t presented to me as Mayor. This bill l i'm mediately caused to be introduced in the last session of the Genera Assembly without comment or al teration.
 Clarifies Benefits
 "The bill as presented undertool to correct our pension situation Ii several important respects. It clar' flied benefits and made them rnor' consistent. It provided for larger art more reasonable contributions. Fl nally, it provided for annual pay ments by the city to cover in ful the expense of each years operation and to prepare to meet the future payments based upon benefits earn ed through past services.
 Recognizing the necessity Of es tablishing a sound system, this ad ministration approved these provi sions. We could not, however, agre' that the taxpayers should be callet on to pay more than $300,000 yea, above current costs in order to built up a reserve of nearly ten million dollars over the next thirty years Our reasons for objecting to thi provision were simple enough ant were clearly stated at the time. Tn first is that the city does not neet a reserve of any such amount t' protect the taxpayers. The taxpaye needs only to be protected agains an increase in the cash outlay. Sec ond, the pension beneficiary doe not need such a reserve. A claii1 against governmental agency ! very different from claim agairs a private business corporation whicE may go out of business or be reor' ganlzed. Third, high taxes defea themselves as they deter both busi' ness and private home owners iron creating taxable values. Finally, th' proposed figures were admittedl! based on an incomplete study O our requirements.
 No Objections
 Tn considering the present con troversy 1t must be remembered tha no person purporting to speak fo the Republican party objected, Q this point to any changes made il benefits to be paid to employees no to the increased contributions to b made by these employees. The onl! difference of opinion was over tn | -
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