Commentary

Pension Reform In San Diego

San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio writes in today’s Union Tribune:

San Diego’s working families briefly dodged a bullet this week when the City Council could not muster enough votes to advance a proposal to increase the sales tax by $103 million annually.

Depending on what happens in the coming days and weeks, this week’s City Council meeting may very well turn out to be an important milestone on the city’s path to fiscal recovery.

Why? The reality is starting to set in that the city’s financial problems are driven by unsustainable cost increases in the pension system.

The city’s pension payment has climbed from $154 million last year to more than $230 million this year. And it only gets worse. According to the pension system actuary, it will climb to $343 million in FY 2016 and spike to $511.6 million in FY 2025. Taken together, the city’s pension and retiree health care system face $3.4 billion in debt.

Read the rest here.