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San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
FICA is 7.65%, AND THE BENEFIT, SS, IS ABOUT 1/10TH OF THE 3%@50. I dont get the "pre tax" argument either... When you say you have received a 5% raise over 4 years but are still nhegative-tell me what the private sector is then-since their wages have stayed the same since 2000, would they not have an actual decline of 30% due to inflation (assuming 3%/year CPI inflation)????? =========================== First, SS tax is 6.2%. The other 1.45% is for Medicare. We still pay that. Apples vs. apples, please. The employee contribution rate to SDCERS is roughly double that. According to the SSA, the average SS recipient replaces 40% of their income. Plus another 50% of that benefit if they have a non-working spouse. So, that's as much as 60% of income replaced. The average SDCERS safety recipient retires after 25 years for a benefit of 75%. For double the employee contribution. Some of that employee contribution is covered by "pick up". Or at least it was. We pay 4.3% MORE into the system than we used to. Retirement is paid pre-tax for everyone, not just us. What about the pre-tax argument don't you get? It would take a 6-8% post tax raise to equal a 4.3% pre-tax cut. After taxes that 6-8% is 4.3%. Get it now? But we only got a 5% post-tax raise. That's a net cut. What does the CPI have to do with anything? We have to pay increased freight for goods just as the next guy does. You say that wages have been flat in the private sector. "The average raise for all workers is expected to be 3.7% in 2009, compared with the 3.8% they received in 2008." Since you didn't like my "liberal" sources, that one is from the Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12186810938363958… Incidentally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics also shows that your assertion about private sector wages is false. So... we still have a net negative pay raise over five years. According to the WSJ, the average salary increase in the private sector has been 7.5% in the past two years. I'd say we're doing our part...— January 15, 2009 10:24 a.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
I don't think that a 5 percent raise in 4 years qualifies as a "significant hit," ========================== Don, you're picking out one small piece of the entire economic package and using that to comment on the whole picture. Shame... you know better than that. We also pay 4.3% more into our retirement now. That's 4.3% pre-tax. So what would the equivalent after tax raise be to offset that? Yeah, more than the 5% we got. Our total net raise over 5 years is negative. Plus we pay more into health care now... for an even more negative net raise.— January 14, 2009 9:21 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
I would stop asking for raises, more money, more benefits.... ====================== For a supposed attorney, your reading comprehension isn't very good. Not more than a few posts above I wrote, "It's my personal feeling that we do not need a pay raise for the next few years."— January 14, 2009 6:29 a.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
So what is the argument about? ======================= Don, I think we all can agree that the city is in trouble. Here's how I look at it. I don't think your views are that far off. At the risk of oversimplification, city finances are like a four legged stool. 1. Employee pay and benefits. We've beat this to death here. Whether or not you think we should earn what we do, the facts stand. Firefighters have received a 5% pay raise over the last four years and expect nothing this year. We gave back more than that pre-tax by eliminating retirement pickup. So that's a net negative pay raise over 5 years. We pay more for insurance. We eliminated DROP for new hires. Etc. 2. Corporate welfare. Enough said. 3. Citizen taxes. Some say they pay too much. The record shows San Diegans pay less than those in other cities. 4. Return of taxes from the state. This is a legacy of Pete Wilson. San Diego gets back less of it's taxes from the state that other cities. Again, this is well documented. Like any four legged stool, if one leg is longer or shorter, the stool will wobble. It's my feeling that city employees have taken a significant hit. It's time to equalize the legs. You will never balance the city's budget by cutting off one leg and one leg only. It's my personal feeling that we do not need a pay raise for the next few years. That will result in a net negative pay raise over 6, 7, 8 years. I'm OK with that. But it's time for everyone to feel the pain. Very simply put, it's a lot easier to spread the deficit over 1.5 million people than 11,000. And yes, I'm aware that not all 1.5 million are taxpayers.— January 13, 2009 7:49 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
Johnny, Say what you want... but I just paid the guy down the street to take out a couple of trees in my yard. He's had little other business lately. I also just got a quote for some tile work from my next door neighbor. He asked if I'd just cut a check straight to his landlord so he isn't evicted. Guess I'll do just that.— January 13, 2009 6:08 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
So something must be done. ========================== You're right. Something must be done. Start by ending corporate welfare for the rich. Pay average taxes for average services. Then we'll talk. Here's a link for you: http://www.cbp.org/pdfs/2008/0807_pp_cutsortaxes.… The title of that paper is "BUDGET CUTS OR TAX INCREASES: WHICH ARE PREFERABLE DURING AN ECONOMIC DOWNTURN?" Take a look at this quote by Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. “Every dollar of state and local government spending enters the local economy right away, generating a greater economic impact. The impact is especially large when the money goes for salaries of teachers, policemen and firemen, doctors and nurses and others that provide vital services to our communities.” So you say we make too much and we should cut salaries. Others say we should raise taxes so that we have more to spend in businesses across San Diego. We've already cut our salaries -- your turn.— January 13, 2009 5:24 p.m.
Chargers' Fabiani Admits in Article That San Diego Is Bankrupt or Heading in That Direction
Question; does anybody believe Fabiani? ======================= If no one believes Fabiani, doesn't the main source for this blog entry go in the toilet? Why would you intentionally use a source that you don't believe?— January 13, 2009 1:19 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
Illegal mmigrants would undercut American workers and they pretty much destroyed the living wage of contruction trades-with the exception of union jobs, which became more scarce. ===================================== So I guess you've discovered that there is a little more than just a GED required to become a firefighter. The right to legally work in the county is also necessary. I find it hilarious that you rail about illegal immigrants bringing down the standard of living in this country and simultaneously whine about bringing down the standard of living for the few union workers still making decent wages and benefits. Which is it going to be?— January 11, 2009 9:14 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
40 hours would be at time and a half, ================== Except that there is a FD exemption to the FLSA allowing firefighters to work 52 hours before OT kicks in. Guess that was another "off the top of my head with no fact checking" thing again.— January 11, 2009 9:10 p.m.
San Diego City Employees pension fund ailing
I'm not sure that the insurance company analogy is an apt one. ========================== Actually, fire departments were originally funded by insurance companies to ensure protection of insured property. Fire departments became municipal when city fathers figured out that they could not control volunteer fire departments. They figured that they could control city employees. Personally, I feel that insurance companies should pony up more towards fire protection. Fireman's Fund has done some good things. AIG has gone full circle and hired firefighters that a municipality cannot control to protect only it's insured.— January 11, 2009 9:08 p.m.