I thought I knew a lot about local pension systems until I was asked by Mayor Ford to join the Shelby County Retirement Task Force. Under Commissioner Mike Ritz it is a well run and professional group.
Yesterday we met and one of the handouts was a spreadsheet showing the retirement benefits of Shelby county, the City of Memphis, MLGW, Memphis City Schools and the City of Germantown. Take a look at this sheet and see the benefits, particularly the MLGW.
Most of our public employees are professional hardworking people. However due to a lack of past governmental transparency and while economic times were good, the pension systems has been loaded with a lot of goodies. I will say that the County has been financially prudent in their pension system and over the years has tried to change to make it sustainable. Over the last 20 to 25 years when the economy has been mostly good, all the systems have been doing reasonably well. However starting in November 2007, we have seen the portfolios take a nosedive and pose the risk that the future might not follow the past.
We are now trying to think about a new plan D for the County to make it work for the future. Look over the sheet and give me your comments and thoughts about how your private sector pension compares with these public benefits.
I have two suggestions:
1. Raise vesting from 7.5 years to 10 years
2. Part time employees should not earn service time as if they are full time employees. Since pension is based on three highest years, if they return to full time for three years, they get the same pension as the person that worked that same job full time for 25+ years.