December 18, 2008
Bloomberg on "gold-plated" pensions
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, writing in an op-ed, endorses Governor Paterson's pension reform proposal, saying his city cannot afford to "continue to offer the next generation of workers gold-plated pension benefits that even the most successful companies can't afford today".
Mayors of Buffalo, Yonkers and other cities likely would agree. However, their police and firefighters are not included in Paterson's pension plan--unlike uniformed officers in New York City, who are in a different pension plan.
In a New York Post op-ed today, Bloomberg writes:
...New York City is spending so much money on pensions - $6.3 billion, a 10-fold increase from the $695 million we spent in 2000 - that we have far less to spend on core services, such as public safety, education, parks and senior centers. That defies common sense, and it's hurting our city.
For instance, the city now has to spend more money on pensions and fringe benefits for firefighters than we pay in salaries for firefighters. That's one reason we've had to delay the hiring of a new class of firefighters.
Bloomberg endorses Paterson's plan to require newly hired New York City uniformed officers to work longer before collecting pensions.
Right now, uniformed city workers can retire after only 20 years of service. That means government is paying full pension benefits to many people whose retirements begin in their early 40s (although most continue working full-time in other jobs) and stretch for more than 40 years.
I believe that - again, only for future hires - we should raise the number of years required for a full pension for uniformed workers from 20 to 25, and provide retirement benefits to these future employees only after they reach 50.
The proposed changes apply only to future hires. Nevertheless, the New York City Patrolman's Association opposes them (here and here).
Outside New York City, uniformed officers--police and firefighters--for local governments as well as the state are in the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System, which includes a number of plans.
« Previous |
Main
| Next »
|
