Bolster budgets by rethinking retirement

I read with great interest the current discussion regarding potentially raising again the property tax rates in Shelby County and various Shelby County cities. We discuss reducing staffing, postponing debt payments and other ways to avoid the real problem. We need to ask our representatives how much we will save if we stop paying retirements and retiree health care benefits to people not yet old enough to retire.

Social Security says I must be 67 to receive full benefits. Why do people who work for the government get a better deal than those of us who pay them? Eliminating paying retirements to people not yet old enough to retire would immediately provide us with a budget surplus. We can continue to use the same retirement plans, only we should not pay retirement until the retiree reaches 67 years old.

Save your money and retire early if you like, or keep working until you reach retirement age. We all have to pull together in these tough times to ensure fairness for the taxpayers.