Pension Stuff
Over at the Lost Coast Outpost, Alan Dollison takes a rather convoluted look at Eureka's pension problems. Naturally, one of the first comments to his column says he's spewing right- wing propaganda and that somebody- us, or some rich guy- isn't paying enough.
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The Sacramento Bee has an op-ed on pension problems around the state.
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Over at the Contra Costa Times, Dan Borenstein takes a look at one of the horror stories of pension spiking: a fire chief making more in retirement than he made on the job:
"His base salary was
$194,000 a year. Under the fire district's and county retirement
system's policies, his starting pension would have been $201,000
annually. But three days before Nowicki announced his retirement, fire district board members, knowing he planned to leave, approved changes to his contract enabling him to spike his pension an additional 20 percent, to $241,000.
Today, after cost-of-living adjustments, his pension is about $277,000 a year."
I'm not trying to suggest this is the norm for public employee retirements, but it does happen often enough. It's only a small part of the problem.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 10:10 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
how can it only be a small part of the problem as you say it. really surely you cant beleave that can you. what we are the post was about was not being able to afford new employee or to pay current ones. and you stats alone proves that the pension is the only problem. paying 1000 people with tax money when only 50 are actually still working. how does that workout. it cant. i am glad to see you didnt give us a bigger problem after stating that it is only a small problem please enlighten to what the big problem is.we raised taxes to pay fire wages so please fill us in on the bigger problem and please include stats not just liberal talking points.
Perhaps I miswrote that? I'm saying pension spiking horror stories, such as I featured here, aren't commonplace. Sure, public safety employees get great pensions, even now. But not all public employees have such luxurious pensions as that fire chief.
I recall meeting a lady who had just retired from Humboldt County Health and Human Services. Of course, this was before the big pension boosts of 2000, but she was not well off.
I went to her house to mow her lawn, telling her it was $20.00 an hour and would likely cost about $20. She went inside and watched the clock, racing outside with a $20 bill at exactly an hour after I started, shouting at me to stop. I went ahead and finished the last few minutes only charging her $20.
I had to think, though, what an awful way to start out retirement: afraid you're going to have to pay $5.00 more on something.
But you are correct about having to still be responsible for employees not working anymore, as I've pointed out here and elsewhere before.
http://www.kins1063.com/talkshop-060115-andrew-mills/
If you want to hear direct from the EPD Chief the above link to the interview is 100% on his budget. Worker's Comp costs have doubled recently he stated.
It will be interesting to see if HCSO can hire with a smaller pension offer. San Jose tried this an their force collapsed as many retired early and left.
"It will be interesting to see if HCSO can hire with a smaller pension offer. San Jose tried this an their force collapsed as many retired early and left."
Seems to me Sheriff's deputies and Eureka cops get paid fairly well up here, considering the size of the area and economy.
I get a little tired of the argument that we need to keep our police salaries and pensions high to attract the best people. There's certainly some truth to that, but with every city and county playing that same game there will never be a way to win. Someone will always one up you in offering higher benefits, eventually.
I know one guy who was a Eureka cop, then switched to the Sheriff's office. I never asked him why but maybe it was because he got to work in the courthouse as a bailiff. Then he was telling me he was going to move to a county way down south to finish his service because that county had better pay and benefits. Three years there could greatly increase his retirement.
That fell through as time went on. I was surprised to see him two or three months ago delivering mail to my house. Yep, in the postal service now. Seems he got a disability retirement, but that retirement didn't offer good enough health insurance, so he went to work with the post office.
In any case, no matter how much you offer someone, there will always be some city, somewhere, that will offer more. San Jose didn't have all that much choice but to deal strongly with their pension problems as it was breaking the city. You almost can't blame the cops who felt betrayed, but those guys, as is the case with many cops, feel entitled to whatever they were promised and don't care if it's getting too expensive.
I know who that Deputy is.
Kudos for the 10:30 post Fred.
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