sixty million in the red by Andy Montroll

Dear Friend,
As you may have heard, our city's retirement fund is facing a severe shortfall. The Kiss administration maintains that the fund is only $30 million dollars short, but they are basing that off of information from last June. Using more current and accurate data the fund is actually more than $60 million dollars short.

Our City's Financial Future is at RiskTwo years ago the city's retirement fund was thirty million dollars under where it needed to be to meet our obligations. Today the fund is more than sixty million dollars underfunded. If being $30 million short was a crisis, than being $60 + million short is a pending catastrophe. We need to take strong action to prevent the current crisis from destroying the financial stability of the city.
We should immediately start the process of moving from the current defined-benefit retirement plan, similar to a classic pension, to a defined-contribution plan, similar to a 401k. Switching to a defined-contribution plan would prevent city finances from being adversely affected by the whims of the stock market.
Any changes to the retirement plan should affect new employees only. Existing employees would be able to keep their current retirement benefits, or switch to the new system if they so desire.
We will have to renegotiate the city contract with the union, but I am confident that we can find a solution that will work for both the city and its employees
Experienced Leadership is Needed Now
We have an obligation to our citizens to make sure that their tax dollars are not poured into a bottomless hole. Mayor Kiss has repeatedly stated that he has fixed the problems with the retirement fund. Band-aids don't fix broken bones, and the minor changes that Bob has implemented do not address the root problem. Last night I introduced a resolution that would have begun the process of changing the structure of the city retirement system. Unfortunately this resolution was defeated 8-6 in a party line vote. However I will not be deterred from my goal of treating our city employees fairly while ensuring the future financial stability of our city.