Speed up KC's pension reform, or else
Yael T. AbouhalkahKansas City’s slow-motion pension reform act came to a City Council committee meeting early Wednesday. The results: Nothing’s decided and negotiations are dragging on.
That didn’t sit well with committee chairwoman Jan Marcason, who said, “We have got to get serious about getting something on the table.”
Her deadline: Bring something back in two weeks.
That keeps the pressure on City Manager Troy Schulte, Finance Director Randy Landes and all the union representatives to come up with a deal that’s good for taxpayers - and or retirees and future retirees.
On Wednesday, they weren’t there yet, Schulte said.
On Thursday, the special committee of union reps and others that Schulte has put together will once again meet behind closed doors to argue some more.
One of the big sticking points: Will the firefighters give up the automatic 3 percent cost of living adjustment that their retirees have received for decades? The city wants to give out a variable COLA that could be zero in bad economic years.
The city needs to get this situation in hand, because new figures released in the last week show all four pension funds are worse off than they were last year.
Liabilities are up, and funded ratios - the amount of money to cover the benefits due to employees - are down for the plans.
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