The pension issue
AL GREEN
Contributing Columnist
green@lbknews.com
Although I have given up the weekly grind of column writing, I still pay attention.
There have been a few things going on that made no sense to me, like trying to make Whitney Beach into a successful shopping center, micromanaging the Colony future, and changing the codes to destroy the peace, quiet and ambience of Harbourside as well as Islandside, but if the voters approve, so be it.
However, the Town Commission is now playing with dynamite with a policy change that could totally destroy what many of us labored over the years to make a true paradise.
That is the idea of switching to a 401K type of pension system instead of the defined benefit plan for the two uniformed services that has succeeded in creating the best emergency medical care in Florida and arguably the entire country.
When I first came on the Town Commission, the turnover for the police and fire people was 50 percent. That’s right; we lost half of our policemen and fireman every year.
We also had a constant stream of older people in effect evacuating the key when they reached an age that made access to the hospital a serious concern. We then affected the changes that made Longboat Key a destination not a launching pad, a proper pay package and benefits.
Mistakes were made. That is obvious. For reasons I never understood, candidates for the Town Commission made a big deal out of cutting taxes; and what could be an easier way to reduce the budget than lower the contribution to the pension fund? Now cutting taxes sounds like a good idea but on Longboat Key, given the assessable valuations, taxes should never have been a serious consideration. At first, we thought we did well in keeping them below 2.5 mils, but today the millage is so low it is only a political not a financial consideration. Even a modest raise could take all of the heat out of the liability.
However, even if it would prove painful, the pain of a few extra dollars a year would be pennies on the dollar to the loss of value in the residential real estate if Longboat Key would go back to the quality of staffing that was present in the late eighties and residents didn’t feel comfortable in knowing that at the other end of a 911 call was top drawer emergency care that has saved countless lives.
Police and fire personnel work their jobs for many reasons, not the least of all is the lifetime security it provides. With every neighboring community providing for this benefit, the best of the group will be leaving post haste.
Don’t mess with success. Don’t succumb to the national hysteria of making taxes the total criteria. It is screwing up communities all over America. Don’t let it happen on Longboat Key. You can’t afford the consequences.
la sono matto? If you think 24 million in unfunded pension liability is success, maybe you can get a job at the Whitehouse, you’ll fit right in.
This guy keeps rising from the dead letter repository. Just when we think we’ve seen the last of his nonsense he rises up with more gibberish. $24-30 million dollars in unfunded pension liability will make potential homebuyer’s think twice before buying on Longboat Key.
Mr. Ross ,
The unfunded liability does need to be addressed, but doing away with the plan will have even bigger consequences. The general fund will have to absorb a major increase in salaries since firefighters will have to work till age 65. Top salary positions will stay in place and there will be little opportunity for lower paying entry level positions. This also will stall progress as new ideas and education will have little chance to enter the work place. Quality employees will leave since there will be little opportunity for promotions. Think about work place injuries with a senior work. In the 70′s the fire service had a similar situation inwhich there was little turn over and was the reason the DROP program was introduced, to rotate personell. The unfunded liability doesn’t go away when you do away with the defined benefit program, but the state funding does as does the employees 10 percent contribution. The firefighters this week made a significant offer to reduce benefits and transfer part of the financial risk onto themselves. Please encourage your commission to look at the total cost to the tax payers. Al Green is Spot on! But the other thought you should be thinking, a 65 year old firefighter going up multiple floors in a high rise to make a rescue, who carries who down??
Spot on Mr. Green. We have been saying this from the start when they first proposed the possible change from a DB Plan to a DCPlan. This Town will become nothing more than a training center for firefighters/paramedics. As soon as an opening opens up on the other side of the bridge or in the surrounding area they will be leaving. Look at how many have left already in the last year or two. The level of service will change, in fact it already has. The stanard to get hired out at Longboat Key was you had to have at least 5 years experience in both fire and ems. That is no longer the case and it has been the case for some time now. With a 401 plan and no step plan, not only will you not be able to keep excellent firefighter/paramedics the Town will not be able to even get that excellent canidate to apply at Longboat Key. Here is another concern that the residents should have, with the type of plan that the Town wants to implement will require firefighters/paramedics to stay to at least 65years of age or longer to have the required amount of money to retire. ICMA staes that firefighters and police need 85% of pay to retire. With a 401a plan that just cannot be met. Do the residents really want 65 y/o firefighters/paramedics. As far as the unfunded liability,Foster and Foster stated at the last pension board meeting. If there was no changes to the pension as it is now, the unfunded liability will be cut in half over the next 9 years. So that issue is be addressed. Plus with what the fighters just offered in negotiations it is going to help the the pension more and puts between 25-40% of the libility on the firefighters.
Based upon the Town’s insistence to force a terrible pension down the throats of fire and police as well as general employees, I encourage all town employees who are not trapped into staying with the town, to seek employment elsewhere. Like Mr. Green says, all the other municipalities around LBK are not being this radical and they are intending on keeping a decent pension. Get out while you can! Save yourself and your family. Sometimes, abandoning ship is the only way to save your own skin. Let them suffer the consequences. They do not deserve such quality people working for them and you deserve much better yourselves.