Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Grand Jury finds employee pension cost unrealistic


County employee retirement vs the cost
Palo Alto Daily News/Peninsula/Bonnie Eslinger, Staff, 4/16/13.  "Grand Jury dings San Mateo County for failing to rein in soaring pension costs."

"San Mateo County doesn't have enough money to cover promised retirement costs that could total $2 billion, not the $1 billion estimated by the agency managing employees' pension fund, a civil grand jury concluded in a report released Monday.  The county's unfunded pension liability is the "elephant in the room," San Mateo Civil Grand Jury Foreman Timothy Johnson Jr. told The Daily News on Monday.

....  The San Mateo County Employees' Retirement Association (SamCERA), which handles the county's retirement program, told the grand jury that as of June 30, 2012, the unfunded liability figure was about $1.08 billion. But that assumes the association's assets will perform at a level which hasn't been reached in recent years, according to the civil grand jury.  However, when taking into account actual investment performance and current economic conditions, the grand jury projected a shortfall closer to $2 billion.  

....   The grand jury said it also believes the county needs to take bigger steps to reduce employee retirement costs, while acknowledging that in recent years the county has trimmed its work force, held back raises and adopted reduced pension programs for new workers."   Read more.   Note:  Graphic from Deviant Art.  
 
Posted by Kathy Meeh

17 comments:

todd bray said...

Guaranteed? Change the law, make it retro active. To not do so is, IMHO criminal.

Anonymous said...

Unions Chickens Have Come Home To Roost!

Anonymous said...

Yowsa! Let's all be poor!

Anonymous said...

My measly $1000 / month UNION pension is NOT guaranteed. Why should we tax payers have to guarantee outrageous unsustainable government workers pension? Let them go under it's what they get for being so greedy. This whole pension time bomb is about to blow.

Anonymous said...

Democrats Utopia is crumbling before their pinko eyes.

Anonymous said...

WOW..Two Billion Dollars??? I think I read in the Tribune, Pacifica Police Departments unfunded liablity will be paid off in five years...If we outsource does Pacifica have to pay the counties share??? This is a mess.

Anonymous said...

You have no idea how big a mess this is. House of cards so careful what you wish for.

Oh yes, I'll take poverty, please!

todd bray said...

Looking forward to you posting the hilarious parody today in the Trib from some out of towner realtor whiner named Stewwie or something. Sounds like a FAMILY GUY script or a scene from AMERICAN DAD, very funny. Loved the huffy puffy tone. Where do you Yessies find these guys?

Anonymous said...

stewie newton?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, cousin Fig's boy.

Anonymous said...

They are going to have to cut present employees, not just future ones. Otherwise the whole system is going to implode.

And don't ask taxpayers to make up the difference so you can keep your $10,000+ a month pensions and free healthcare for life. We have to survive on a tiny fraction of that.

Just let the whole thing go under. They can go on SSI and medicare like the rest of us.

Anonymous said...

9:06 please seek therapy!

Anonymous said...

The realtors are going to run those emergency vehicle and air quality arguments right into the ground. They come off as totally insincere and self-interested.

Anonymous said...

If I worked for xyz corp making widgets would I complain that my paycheck and benefits and future pension were all to high.

Not in this lifetime or the next 4!

Kathy Meeh said...

Anonymous, 4/17, 11:01 PM, I posted Todd's 4/17, 9:06 AM unfair, outrageous comment this morning, but I tend to agree with you. However, Todd was referring to Paul Stewart's Pacifica Tribune My Turn article, 4/16/13. Paul Stewart is Government Affairs Director for the San Mateo County Association of Realtors. Apparently Todd was unable to defend the NIMBY highway position, and chose to make himself look like a parody of Todd.

The Caltrans highway 1 widening (1.3 mile bottleneck) studies have moved forward and are almost completed. Next step we hope, widen highway 1 in the Vallemar/Rockaway area to allow for better traffic flow through entry and exit lanes.

Unfortunately, once again the NIMBIES seem to have staked-out their position beyond reason. The advantage for the city is to move forward, and leave "the environment is our economy" NIMBY crowd in the dust. The city needs a balanced economy and an efficient highway.

Anonymous said...

We'll all be driving little Lark Scooters before that road gets widened.

Anonymous said...

What if the problem can be solved by the traffic light technology the city is looking at? Digre and Nihart mentioned it a few meetings ago. The vendor/s are making a presentation to council soon. If that works, how many still want the road widened? For what reason/s? Maybe technology and widening the shoulders? Who's staying in the game?