11:30am | With Long Beach facing dire financial straights, Councilmember Gary DeLong is introducing motions that could limit increases in pension benefits and points out that currently 154 retired employees receive over $100,000 in annual pension each.
In a memo to Mayor Bob Foster and his colleagues on the City Council, DeLong calls the current pension system “unsustainable” and proposes that any future increases in pension benefits be approved by voters.
“Accordingly, in response to the City of Long Beach’s current unsustainable pension system, it is imperative to give the citizens of Long Beach more control over any proposed future pension changes,” the memo reads. “Additionally, an effort should be made to minimize ‘pension spiking.'”
DeLong also points out that those 154 retired employees cost the city over $18 million annually. The city of Long Beach faces an $18.5 million deficit in the coming budget year.
The Los Angeles Times today reports on cities from one end of California to the other that are struggling to reign in pension costs. Some cities have been warned that pensions may consume nearly half of their annual budgets in a few years, but the Times warns that powerful employee unions will make reform difficult. Click here to read that story, although you’ll have to click through four pages to finish it (this practice is done to force increased pageview counts, somewhat disingenuously).
DeLong has made two recommendations to the Charter Amendment Committee. First, that the people vote on future increases in pension benefits and second, that pensions be based on the average of their last three years of employment.
More to come…
Click here to read our policy on covering the Long Beach City Council.