Sutter supervisors to study pensions
The perilous state of pension funding across California — and where Sutter County stands amid the fiscal turbulence — will be the heart of a public forum Tuesday in Yuba City.
Advocates of tighter, less generous retirement payouts to county workers hope Tuesday's study session by the Sutter County Board of Supervisors will raise a louder alarm about the threat of a long-term financial drain. The meeting, which will feature CalPERS senior actuary Rick Santos, is set for 6 p.m. at Whiteaker Hall before the board's regular meeting.
"I think it's an indication to the board that people want them to get on this issue," said Rick Dais, who as president of Citizens for Change led a failed recall drive against supervisors who voted for pension increases in 2004. "There's a lot of people looking to retire with what they think is a high benefit; and if the money's not there, it isn't a benefit, only an empty promise."
Complaints about Sutter County's spending have lingered since the board's 2004 decision to raise payouts for most of its departing workers to a "2.7 at 55 plan" — 2.7 percent of their highest annual salary per year of service, starting at age 55 — and 3 percent after age 50 for departing public-safety workers. The increases came in the same year the Dow Jones stock index began to fall and drag down the portfolio — and funds — of the state Public Employee Retirement System, which has sustained investment losses of about 23 percent in the past year.
In Sutter County, pension expenses this fiscal year are $14.9 million from a budget total of $267.7 million, versus $14.1 million out of the $272.1 million slate from 2008-09, according to Stephanie Larsen, interim county administrative officer.
As the recession has gripped California and the nation, pension payments in its counties and cities have continued their decade-long expansion.
Media reports last month placed the unfunded liabilities — the gap between pension systems' actual funds and workers' earned benefits — at $28 billion in the Golden State's 80 largest governments, all amid a steep fall-off in tax revenue.
While some Sutter County officials have pointed to its ability to avoid layoffs and the other effects of pension-driven cash squeezes, Auditor-Controller Robert Stark countered that its own pension system's underfunding has more than doubled to $126 million in the past year — and that its turn to suffer is near without radical changes.
"What you'll see is a steady erosion of our reserves; we may look like everything's fine compared to other cities and counties, but I think we're on the same sinking ship," he said Friday. "The sooner we take the steps to mitigate that, the better off we'll be in the end."
If worries about long-term fiscal health don't grip county residents, indignation over high county pensions will, according to Supervisor Larry Montna. Three former Sutter County department heads are among 26 former civil servants and education officials in Yuba-Sutter pulling down more than $100,000 in their retirement.
"Some of the units are starting to talk to us about it because they didn't just fall off the melon truck — they understand what's going on, and the sentiments of John Q. Public is not good right now," said Montna, who supports raising the retirement age for collecting benefits. "When you have guys making over $100,000 for being retired, it makes the hair on the back of their necks stand up. People don't mind paying the guys (some) money but they see it as excessive."
CONTACT Howard Yune at 749-4708 or hyune@appealdemocrat.com
