What really caused our current pension challenges?

Are public pensions “unsustainable”?

FACT: The Majority of Retirement Benefits are not Paid with Taxpayer Dollars, but from Investments.

Pension Sustainability:

Compensation Task Force Report “In retrospect, when contribution rates were low, it would have been more prudent for cities to have anticipated higher rates and put aside operating reserves accordingly.”

Pension Sustainability:

Collective Bargaining, City of Ventura Proposal # 1: Eliminate 7% Employer Pick-Up

“Ventura, as with most cities, also pays the employees’ share of the Defined Benefit Contribution Program. This came as a negotiated benefit in lieu of salary increases.” City of Ventura, Compensation Task Force Report

Eliminate 7% Employer Pick-Up Pension Reform?!? Or……

Eliminate 7% Employer Pick-Up …..Just a Pay Cut!!!

“Relative to comparable cities, pay, benefits and pensions for the City of Ventura tend to be average to below average…pay, benefits and pensions usually lag other agencies.” City of Ventura, Compensation Task Force Report

Compensation Task Force Report “Unlike most public and many private employers, the City of Ventura has not significantly raised its contribution to employee medical benefits despite significant annual premium increases.”

Compensation Task Force Report “The City of Ventura does not and never has offered post-retirement employee health care coverage…..these benefits are offered by 86% of the cities surveyed.”

“96% of statewide general employees are covered by the 55 formula or higher. 62% are covered by higher formulas.” Compensation Task Force Report

FACT: Average CalPERS Retiree Receives $25,000 Per Year

Compensation Task Force Report “The average current pension for all of Ventura's police and fire retirees is $38,131 a year. The average civilian pension is $14,391.”

Are Ventura Retirement Benefits Too Rich?!?

BENEFIT LEVELS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM!

Collective Bargaining, City of Ventura Proposal #2: Consider Second Lower Tier of Retirement Benefits for New Hires

“Creating a two-tier pension plan with a lower benefit level under a “defined contribution” plan provides relatively modest cost savings over even a long time horizon and could make Ventura less competitive in filling new jobs.” Compensation Task Force Report

Two-Tier Systems Miss the Mark

So, why attack public employees’ retirement system?

The Ideological Attack on Public Retirement Systems ”Every person in every town in America will know the reason their library is closing early is that public employees have defined benefit pensions.” —Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform

"I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.“ - Grover Norquist Americans for Tax Reform The Ideological Attack on Public Retirement Systems

Ventura County Poll Results Salaries70% “About the Right Amount, or Too Little” Pensions63%“About the Right Amount or Too Little”

Let’s not join the race to the bottom!

Thank You.