| San Mateo County, CA | November 8, 2005 Election |
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Why I Support Restrictions on Lifetime Retirement BenefitsBy W Charles "Charles" PerryCandidate for Board Member; San Mateo-Foster City School District |
This information is provided by the candidate | |
Our district is roughly $30 million in debt for lifetime retirement benefits. We are required by the state to pay for this debt by 2007. Instead of reducing educational programs to pay for it, I propose reducing retirement benefits and linking the amount of retirement benefits to time spent in our district.Currently, our district is roughly $30 million in debt for retirement benefits it has negotiated in the past without the means of paying for them. The latest study of this problem indicated that our district will have to spend roughly 4% to 5% of its annual budget for the next 30 years to pay for this. As medical costs rise, this amount will undoubtedly increase. Currently, our district is paying roughly 2% to 3% of its budget just to pay its annual obligations. By 2007, the state government will require that our district pay for this liability. Without serious fiscal changes either in how we educate our children or in what benefits we provide, we cannot reach this goal. How did our district get in this situation? Until 2 years ago, a teacher would qualify for lifetime retirement benefits after only 5 years of service. To put this into perspective, ask yourself how many jobs provide full retirement benefits after 10 years of employment. For most companies, full retirement benefits come with 20 years of service + if not more. Second, consider that our district is one of the few + if not the only + district in San Mateo County to offer lifetime benefits. Lest you think I am being harsh on prior boards and administrations, this is a common problem in the United States. Today, the Fortune 500 Firms are collectively in debt $300 billion for the very same reason. The largest employer in San Mateo County + United Airlines + went bankrupt because of a similar debt that has not been passed to the federal government to fix. Regardless of how common this problem is, we must fix it now. Personally, I am opposed to cutting more programs or increasing classroom size to provide lifetime retirement benefits after 5 years of employment. Two years ago, the district renegotiated this to 10 years. This was not enough to remedy our dire fiscal situation. Now, we need to renegotiate this to 15 years and link duration of retirement benefits to time spent in our district. Regardless of the specifics of the final retirement benefit program, it must be funded |
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Created from information supplied by the candidate: November 4, 2005 15:56
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