BUDGET TALK-The Mayor’s budget came out Friday (LINK), and with it a series of proposed pension reforms for new hires. It’s a starting point for a conversation that needs to be had, but on one issue I’m ready to disagree: An increase in the retirement age to 67 is too high.
I became interested in pension reform as someone who works in the private sector and observes with incredulity the excesses of the current system. As one of the more egregious examples, a retired city worker can sit on the City Council and collect a six-figure pension that’s more than 100% of his last salary, AND a councilmember’s salary of $178,000-plus.
To be sure, most city workers make much more modest salaries and collect reasonable benefits. The focus should be on wringing the excesses out of the system in order to make it sustainable.
But the 67-year-old retirement age troubled me when Social Security did it, and it troubles me in this context, particularly when employees are paying more into the system, and particularly for people who perform manual labor. Try picturing the tree surgeon with a chain saw up in a ficus, or the street services worker operating heavy machinery to fix our potholes … at age 67. I wouldn’t want my father doing it, and I wouldn’t want anyone else’s.
The Mayor also proposed limiting annual pensions to no more than 75% of salaries. That should spark a constructive debate. My concern off the bat is that the lowest-wage workers be assured of a reasonable minimum payout.
This is hard stuff, admittedly, and only one issue among many, with the others including revenues, collections, and the many steps Los Angeles can take to improve emergency response, make the city more livable, and better serve businesses. Fixing LA demands these issues be addressed, with the necessary steps taken to shore up the city.
(Cary Brazeman, a regular contributor to CityWatch, a neighborhood council board member and founder of LA Neighbors United, is a candidate for City Controller of Los Angeles. Contact him at [email protected].) -cw
Tags: Cary Brazeman, Mayor’s Budget, Pension Reform, Retirement Age
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 33
Pub: Apr 24, 2012