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Show DIuj? Pensions How much money is going to residents of Davis County each month in the form of federal pension checks? HOW DO their checks compare, com-pare, on average, with those going to people in other areas? On the basis of the latest official figures from the Social Security Administration, Administra-tion, the pension payments locally are relatively high. THEY HAVE been getting larger over the years by virtue of the frequent upward revisions legislated by Congress and, more recently, because of their being tied in with the cost of living. In July the benefits were increased by 6.4 percent, in line with a first quarter rise in the Consumer Con-sumer Price Index. As of the beginning of this year, payments to beneficiaries in Davis County were at an annual rate of $2062 per recipient. This compares with $1298 four years earlier, JUST HOW much goes to a pensioner or to members of his family depends upon his annual income during his active ac-tive years and, in turn, upon his contributions to the retirement retire-ment fund. The comparatively large benefits that most local people become eligible for upon retirement reflects the fact that their earnings, during dur-ing their working careers, were better than average. THE NUMBER of retired or disabled residents qualified to receive Social Security payments has been growing larger, year by year, due to revisions of the law that have reduced the age of retirement and have brought in classes of workers who had been ineligible before. The current report lists the total in Davis County on the receiving end as 6,849. In 1971, by comparison, there were 5,249. AS FOR the amount of money entering the local area via the Social Security route, it has now reached $14,124,000 a year. Four years ago it was . $6,816,000. The increase, 107 percent, compares with 90 percent in the United States and with 97 percent in the Mountain States. THROUGHOUT the county as a whole, more than $70 billion is being paid out this year to some 32 million retirees re-tirees and their dependents. Despite the increased outlay, payroll taxes remain the same, except for the fact that they are being levied on the first $15,300 of income rather than on $14,100. |