Most area cities and special districts participate in the California Public Employees' Retirement System, which also is on a course for a train wreck.
The reason? The pervasive benefit improvements of the late 1990s, when many elected and appointed officials bought into the ridiculous notion that public employees could receive generous pensions -- up to 90 percent of their pay starting in their 50s -- and it wouldn't create a long-term burden on taxpayers.
These rosy forecasts depended on retirement fund investments perpetually earning high returns. Of course that's not possible, as we know from what has happened to the stock market the last couple of years.
Now, the state and agencies that participate in CalPERS will be forced to pump in tens of millions of additional dollars to pay their employee pensions. The extra money will come out of general funds, which translates to reducing current services to pay for past promises.
Because state leaders have not enacted reforms to start reining in the pension expenses, others are moving to do so. The California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, the watchdog organization that has put the spotlight on over $100,000-a-year pensions, has drafted two initiatives that would substantially reduce pensions for newly hired government employees, raise retirement ages and limit pensions to a maximum of 75 percent of base pay.
Initiatives aren't the best way to address systemic problems, but if elected leaders fail to act, then voters must.
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