Pension Blues
The news media continues to focus on public employee pensions. The Modesto Bee just completed an exhaustive investigative report on pensions in Stanislaus County. The Bee, which had to litigate in order to get some of the information, focused on the cost to taxpayers from spiking provisions that are available in the County's retirement program. As many of you know, County systems have much greater flexibility than CalPERS contracted agencies in developing retirement formulas.
The article highlighted the fact that employees in Stanislaus County are able to include vacation cash outs, deferred comp payments and other forms of add pay to calculate their final year's compensation. Most of these credits are not available in the vast majority of retirement systems, including CalPERS. Unfortunately, the general public is not aware of this, and will cast us all in the same light as Stanislaus County.
It is certainly another expose that the anti-pension foes will use against us in their punitive ballot initiative to limit future pensions.
Click here and here for the articles.
An Editorial in yesterday's Chronicle (click here) discusses San Francisco's skyrocketing pension costs. The article notes:
Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisor Sean Elsbernd deserve praise for taking on the politically delicate - but fiscally responsible - issue of pension reform. There were years when San Francisco's leaders had the luxury of avoiding the topic. In 1999-2000, investment income was rolling in at such a pace that the city had to contribute just $300,000 to keep the system fiscally sound. Those days are long gone. This fiscal year's bill exceeded $200 million - and growing. By 2013-14, the city's annual liability is expected to approach $500 million.
The reformers are proposing a series of measures to ensure that funds are deposited every year, even in good years for the retirement portfolio, and they are taking measures to curb spiking of pensions.
I think we'll continue to see more of these measures as time passes, including lots of other agencies looking at the two-tier pension system many of us are advocating for CalPERS cities.
The article highlighted the fact that employees in Stanislaus County are able to include vacation cash outs, deferred comp payments and other forms of add pay to calculate their final year's compensation. Most of these credits are not available in the vast majority of retirement systems, including CalPERS. Unfortunately, the general public is not aware of this, and will cast us all in the same light as Stanislaus County.
It is certainly another expose that the anti-pension foes will use against us in their punitive ballot initiative to limit future pensions.
Click here and here for the articles.
An Editorial in yesterday's Chronicle (click here) discusses San Francisco's skyrocketing pension costs. The article notes:
Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisor Sean Elsbernd deserve praise for taking on the politically delicate - but fiscally responsible - issue of pension reform. There were years when San Francisco's leaders had the luxury of avoiding the topic. In 1999-2000, investment income was rolling in at such a pace that the city had to contribute just $300,000 to keep the system fiscally sound. Those days are long gone. This fiscal year's bill exceeded $200 million - and growing. By 2013-14, the city's annual liability is expected to approach $500 million.
The reformers are proposing a series of measures to ensure that funds are deposited every year, even in good years for the retirement portfolio, and they are taking measures to curb spiking of pensions.
I think we'll continue to see more of these measures as time passes, including lots of other agencies looking at the two-tier pension system many of us are advocating for CalPERS cities.
Labels: Pension
posted by City Manager @ 6:41 AM
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