Not if there's 500m to refurbish an arena that really doesn't absolutely need it. People's pensions are the last thing on the chopping block. If there's 500m for a stadium there's enough money to cover people's pensions.
Well first let's look at the pensions:
Those were antiquated defined benefit plans -- not defined contribution ones. The private sector realized these plans are unsustainable over 25 years ago.
The benefits were artificially set high by using fraudulent accounting and calculation caveats (like getting a promotion one year before retirement, working 60 hour weeks and then setting that salary as your base for pension payments).
The city knew for decades that the funds were failing. But instead of shoring them up, politicians picked the corpse clean and left the the pension bill rocketing upward.
Now Let's look at the Stadium:
----- Copy and Paste ----
The arena will be paid for with a $450 million bond issue that will be repaid over the next 30 years. Taxpayers will be paying almost two-thirds of the cost of the arena — $283 million — and private developers will cover the rest. Including interest, it’s projected that there will be a total of $444 million in taxpayer funds spent on the project.
Additionally, the developer has committed to spending another $200 million to build retail, office, residential and hotel space as part of the project. The construction is expected to create about 8,000 construction jobs with work due to start next year.
---- End Copy and Paste ----
So the city isn't just handing-out the cash -- it's making a low-cost bond issue. They'll get the cash back and in the process, draw-in $140M of private cash on the stadium and another $200M of all-private cash to be spent on the surrounding area.
---------------------------------------
So which is the clean end of the turd?
Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below 
