Milwaukee County Board to consider elected-officials’ pension changes

Source: Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors

Milwaukee County Supervisors Joe Sanfelippo, Joseph Rice, Mark Borkowski, Paul Cesarz and Jim “Luigi” Schmitt released the following joint statement regarding the pension reform plan for elected Milwaukee County officials that was approved by a key County Board Committee this week.

“Last September, the county’s financial forecasting workgroup warned that, without immediate and meaningful reforms, the county’s structural deficit would grow to $153 million by 2014. With expenditures expected to grow by 5.5% per year on average, while revenues will only grow by a 3.5% average, it is patently obvious that this trend is unsustainable.

“In response to this and many other similar warnings, the County Board passed a budget for 2010 that included modifications to employee wages and benefits that would begin to make some of the changes desperately needed to address this looming financial crisis.

“In January, the board enacted those changes for all county employees not represented by a labor union. Part of those changes included a reduction in the multiplier used to calculate an employee’s pension upon retirement. However, at that time, elected officials were not included in this change. Since then, we have been working to advance a resolution that would extend the same 20% reduction in the pension multiplier to all county elected officials, bringing them into parity with the other non-represented employees. Including elected officials in this pension modification will save county taxpayers $30,000 per year and will reduce the pension fund liability by more than $300,000 over the long haul.

“As the county attempts to negotiate these same wage and benefit modifications with its labor unions, perhaps more significant than the monetary savings, passage of this resolution would underscore the serious nature of our financial position and serve as proof that Supervisors recognize it is our responsibility to enact difficult reform. The most effective way for us to lead is from the front of the line.”

The measure was approved 5-0 at the Personnel Committee and advances to the full County Board on Thursday, March 18.