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Charter Amendment LA-G Pension Reform City of Los Angeles Charter Amendment - Majority Approval Required Official Results Pass: 158,927 / 75.1% Yes votes ...... 52,662 / 24.9% No votes
See Also:
Index of all Measures |
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Information shown below: Summary | Fiscal Impact | Official Information | Impartial Analysis | Arguments | | ||||||||||
Shall the Charter be amended: (1) to provide sworn Fire, Police, and Harbor Department employees, who are hired on or after July 1, 2011, with the pension benefits provided in the Fire and Police Pension Plan-Tier 6; and (2) to modify provisions of the Fire and Police Pension Plan in order to facilitate compliance with state and federal laws, to authorize the Council to establish an Excess Benefit Plan, to allow flexibility in establishing amortization policies, and to make technical changes?
Pension Plan funding is from employee contributions, City contributions, and Pension Fund investments. There are five Plan tiers. New employees currently become members of Tier 5, which provides:
This measure would create Tier 6 and make other Plan modifications. Tier 6 would apply to Plan members hired on or after July 1, 2011 and would provide:
You want to establish a new pension tier for new sworn employees in the Fire, Police and Harbor Departments and make other modifications to the Plan. A NO VOTE MEANS: You do not want to establish a new pension tier for new sworn employees in the Fire, Police and Harbor Departments and make other modifications to the Plan.
Currently there are five benefit Tiers in the Plan for sworn employees of the Fire Department and Police Department, with Tier 5 also applicable to sworn employees of the Harbor Department. New sworn employees become members of Tier 5 and the majority of Plan members are in Tier 5. The Plan is funded by employee contributions, returns on investments, and City contributions. During the recent recession, returns on investments declined sharply due to the downturn in financial markets. As a result, City contributions to the Plan have been increasing to make up the shortfall. This means less funds are available for other City programs, resulting in reductions in staffing and service levels. This measure would create Tier 6 which would apply to police officers in the Police and Harbor Departments and firefighters in the Fire Department, hired on or after July 1, 2011. Significant provisions of Tier 6 compared to the current Tier 5 pension plan include a reduction in pension benefits for early retirement, setting employee contributions at 9% of salary rather than the current 8% or 9% of salary depending on funding levels, and requiring a 2% contribution from employees towards retiree health care. Following is a comparison of Tier 5 and Tier 6:
This measure would also provide other modifications to the Charter that would:
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Nonpartisan Information
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Arguments For Charter Amendment LA-G | ||
The rising cost of public pensions is crippling cities' ability to provide critical public services. Los Angeles must get serious about curtailing out-of-control pension obligations. VOTE YES ON MEASURE G TO REFORM L.A.'S BROKEN PENSION SYSTEM. Measure G will reform the pension system for new public safety employees, and is projected to save the City of Los Angeles $173 million for every 1,000 new cops and firefighters hired. Current sworn personnel will still get the pension benefits they were promised. VOTE YES ON MEASURE G TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SAFETY SERVICES Measure G is designed to encourage sworn personnel to stay on the job longer because it requires more years of service to qualify for certain pension benefits. Residents will benefit from a more stable and experienced public safety force. Please join us in supporting responsible pension reform by voting YES on MEASURE G.
(No arguments against Charter Amendment LA-G were submitted) |