All about risk
Link: https://patch.com/california/lakeelsinore-wildomar/rivcos-unfunded-pension-gap-closes-report
Excerpt:
It noted the county’s retirement apparatus is now 76.4 percent funded, compared to 71 percent a year ago. The key metric that reflects a sound pension system is considered 80 percent funded status.
The county’s unfunded pension gap is $2.24 billion, compared to $2.49 billion estimated in the prior year, according to PARC.
Publication Date: 1 Mar 2022
Publication Site: Patch.com
Link: https://patch.com/massachusetts/quincy/mayor-quincy-proposes-400-billion-bond-fund-pension-plan
Excerpt:
The Mayor of Quincy, Thomas Koch, proposed a bond of $400 billion to city council to fund the entirety of the town’s pension plan. Koch’s proposal for this bond includes changing the way Quincy’s pension liability is paid down. Under the new plan, the pension system would be paid all at once, as opposed to a payment annually which can vary in amounts each year.
Koch claims that this new plan and bond will save the city lots of money each year and set a consistent expectation of expenses for pension payments. Quincy’s pensions and health insurance are the largest fixed costs the city has that change annually, so Mayor Koch wants these issues to be top priorities when it comes to discussing the city budget. The proposal was sent on Monday and city councilors sent it to the council’s finance committee, which has yet to schedule a hearing for the proposal.
Author(s): Colin Ames
Publication Date: 7 March 2021
Publication Site: Patch.com
Link: https://patch.com/massachusetts/boston/ma-state-workers-had-more-job-security-pandemic-study
Excerpt:
Job losses during the coronavirus pandemic disproportionately hit the private sector workforce in Massachusetts, according to a Pioneer Institute report being released Monday.
The report found the state government payroll has been flat throughout the pandemic, while the private sector workforce remains 10 percent below its pre-pandemic level. At the peak of job cuts last April, the state’s overall unemployment rate was 23 percent, even as state government employment rose higher than it had been in February 2020.
“Compared to restaurants, retailers and other businesses, there was very little pressure on state government to cut costs associated with COVID’s economic fallout,” said Serena Hajjar, who authored the study for the conservative think tank. “The private sector has felt the bulk of the pain of this contraction.”
Author(s): Dave Copeland
Publication Date: 14 March 2021
Publication Site: Patch
Link: https://patch.com/illinois/hinsdale/pension-spiking-d-86-teachers-under-new-pact
Excerpt:
The Hinsdale High School District 86 board on Thursday approved a two-year agreement with the teachers union, including a “pension spiking” provision and relatively small pay raises.
The agreement is retroactive to the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. Over the two years, teachers are expected to see base salary increases amounting to 2.2 percent.
Under the agreement, the teachers will now get 6 percent annual increases in the last four years of their careers, up from the current 3 percent.
Author(s): David Giuliani
Publication Date: 29 January 2021
Publication Site: Patch