[Nfbmo] Likely cuts to the Missouri Blind Pension

[Gary Wunder]

According to the Family Support Division, collection of property taxes has
dropped or remained flat since 2008 and the money used to pay the blind
pension is not sufficient to continue payments at their current level. Never
has the state had to figure out how to reduce pension payments, their
calculations always having been conservative, and property values having
risen consistently.

>From what I gather from the proposed regulations, the state will do its best
to figure out what the pension can afford for the upcoming year and will
base payments on that amount. If they see that their projections are wrong,
they may adjust the amount monthly, with ten days notice given to
recipients. 

 

In the sample figures provided, they suggest that, had the cuts been
implemented for this year, the pension would have dropped from $711 to $692.
They do not expect to begin the cuts immediately, but do expect to see them
in the next twelve months.

 

My understanding is that, by constitution, funds belonging to the pension
are protected, but there is no provision for getting any difference from
general revenue-general revenue cannot use BP funds and viceversa. 

 

This is just a heads-up. There is no current change, but those of us who
receive the pension better budget so that we come to count on a lower figure
rather than assuming the full amount currently provided.

 

Gary Wunder, President

National Federation of the Blind of Missouri