January 9, 2014
Compare Memphis Pensions Versus Shelby County
I could and probably will write for weeks about needed reforms at the City of Memphis. But I like to keep it simple and understandable. Let us look at some comparisons between the City of Memphis and Shelby County governments.
How many active employees do they have?
Memphis 6020 Shelby County 5668
How many pensioners do they have?
Memphis 4782 Shelby County 3260
What is the average annual pension payment per pensioner?
Memphis $32,518 Shelby County $19,218
The problem is obvious. Memphis has 79 retirees for every 100 active employees. Shelby County has 57 retirees for every 100 active employees.
Memphis pension payout is 69% higher per retiree than Shelby County.
There are some obvious reasons.
1) The January 2001 pension resolution allowing elected and appointed people to retire after 12 years regardless of age.
2) The number of line of duty disability retirees is 10 times higher than the county costing Memphis $12 million dollars per year.
Rather than hire a third pension consultant, I recommend that we get some retired County pension experts and have them compare the County’s pension ordinance and practices with the obviously loosey goosey City system. I am open to other suggestions from the public. After all, you are paying for this expensive underfunded system.