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If you missed James Burger's take on Kern County's pension situation -- the KCERA fund lost more than a fifth of its value in the fiscal year that ended in June -- be sure to check it out.

And Andy Stanley, staffer for County Supervisor Ray Watson (and political appointee of Watson's fellow Abernathy client, Bako City Councilman Zack Scrivner) yesterday ran a blog post boasting of Scrivner's prescient leadership on the pension issue. (And not surprisingly ragging on The Californian's coverage, natch!)

The Bako police union, meanwhile, recently filed suit against the city for bad-faith bargaining.

Outside our little oyster, the O.C. Register's Steven Greenhut blogged and wrote on a new CalPERS presentation debunking the myth police and firefighters die earlier than non-safety employees. (I have been trying to get this info from CalPERS, so far to no avail.)

Comments from CalPERS chief actuary posted last month on CalPensions continue to reverberate as the "sustainability" issue bubbles up big time.

POLITICAL CREDIT?

Some, including the councilman himself, would like Scrivner to get credit for "fixing" the pension problem (he's talked of a two-tier plan as one solution). But putting new hires back on the pre-3 at 50 plan won't do much for the city's wallet, even after decades, an actuary at the August pension seminar said:

A retirement actuary, John Bartel, told the seminar that two-tier plans do not save much money, even after several decades. He said costs from the untouchable high-benefit first tier, a vested right protected by contract law, continue to grow.

“Unless that vested right issue changes, and I’m not expecting it will, that second tier is not going to save money,” he said.

Bartel said his clients tell him that the main motivation for switching to a two-tier plan tends to be “political in nature,” rather than an expectation of significant savings.
 

If you want to follow the latest pension news around the state, check out the Pension Watch site, which links to news stories most every day.

-- Gretchen Wenner, staff writer

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200-056-09.pdf

(Suggestion: cue the song "Disco Inferno.")

The city got initial numbers from CalPERS last week for calculating local costs to pay down unprecedented investment losses in the latest fiscal year.

Expect an extra $7.5 million a year...for THIRTY YEARS...starting in July 2013.

That's on top of regular pension payments.

It's not news per se...the hit has been on the horizon since the market cratered...but what's new are CalPERS' rough calculations. There'll be refinements as CalPERS tallies real estate losses and so on (which are currently expected to drag the 08/09 devastation from -23 percent down to -28 percent.)

The circular CalPERS sent to Bako and other local governments is attached as a PDF (click blue box; it's about 4 pages.)

This Sac Bee story has more info on the governor's proposed reforms.

Anyone think the state Legislature can do this, or will the pension issue wind up going to voters?

- Gretchen Wenner, staff writer

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DISPELLING THE M~.pdf

Lots of newspapers have picked up on the jaw-dropping comments of CalPERS' chief actuary in the past week or so (see post below) when he said current pension costs could well be unsustainable.

(The city of Bakersfield contracts with CalPERS; the county has its own pension plan.)

We just got a press release from the Professional Engineers in California Government saying it wants to dispel public pension myths. I'll paste in e-mail text below; you can download entire release in PDF form by clicking on the blue box to the left.

Funny thing is, scary numbers and statements are now coming from CalPERS itself...and not just the longtime chief actuary. The president and the CEO have also been issuing warnings about the need for reform.

Here's the text of the e-mail:

Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG) are dispelling the myths about California’s Public Pension and the outrageous claims made by those who are working to destroy or weaken the current pension system.

Here is what Executive Director Bruce Blanning is saying:
“Those who would weaken or destroy the retirement plan make outrageous claims because the facts don’t support their views,” said Bruce Blanning, PECG’s Executive Director. “The average pension for a retired public employee is less than $2,000 per month, the 1999 pension improvements were part of a negotiated labor contract because such issues belong at the bargaining table, the cost to the taxpayer dropped after those changes were made, and the investment losses due to the economic downturn will only result in pension cost increases of two percent or less, which won’t occur until 2011. It’s time to report the facts and stop misleading the public. No one with an ounce of decency would want to further cut pensions below their current average of less than $2,000 per month.”

-- Gretchen Wenner, staff writer

BY GRETCHEN WENNER, Californian staff writer

Bakersfield’s nasty debate about police and fire pensions could soon be irrelevant.

Not the topic. Just the nasty debate.

That’s because top officials from CalPERS, the massive state system Bakersfield contracts with, are themselves questioning whether current pension plans are sustainable.

Tuesday, a committee of the California Public Employees Retirement System will come up with a plan to gather employers, unions and lawmakers to talk pension reform.

“It’s time to take a look at the whole pension issue for government employees,” said CalPERS spokesman Edd Fong. “What is an adequate pension? How do you pay for it?”

The stance is a startling about-face for the country’s largest public pension fund, which sponsored the 1999 state legislation establishing so-called “3 at 50” retirement benefits for police, fire and highway patrol workers.

Bakersfield adopted the beefed-up plan for safety staff in 2001, and as costs have gone up — CalPERS touted it as a no-cost perk — city council members now say it needs tweaking.

Any local tinkering, however, could prove meaningless if CalPERS makes changes to the whole system.

Read more of the story here.