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Rep. Seth Grove (R-York Co.) was joined on April 8, 2013 by business and municipal leaders, all members of the statewide Coalition for Sustainable Communities (CSC), to unveil a set of reform proposals designed to give communities the tools needed to both rein in the spiraling costs of municipal pensions and maintain public safety by protecting jobs for uniformed police and fire. The municipal-level reforms address what had been a void in state-level pension reform discussions in Harrisburg. Read more about these reforms. Listed below is additional information around municipal pension reform and Rep. Seth Grove's proposed legislation:
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Rep. Seth Grove joined by York Mayor Bracey, York County Economic Alliance CEO Darrell Auterson, Carlisle Borough Council President Perry Heath, Lancaster Chamber of Commerce President Tom Baldrige and others.
Rep. Seth Grove joined by York County Economic Alliance CEO Darrell Auterson, Carlisle Borough Council President Perry Heath, Lower Paxton Supervisor Bill Hawk, Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce President Barb McNees and others.
Municipal pension reform proposal draws local government and business support Excerpt: Prime sponsor Rep. Seth Grove: It's critical we provide some pension reform to our municipalities to obviously protect those pensioners who are currently in the system to make sure they have a funded pension now and into the future and ensure we have adequate pensions moving forward for new employees and provide some cost savings to townships to alleviate the burdens on taxpayers." Grove said he hopes to engage the governor in helping to advance his proposal that he anticipates will draw support from lawmakers not only interested in helping their municipalities but to avoid the increased cost for state in having to pay for more state police if pension costs force municipalities to close down their local police departments.
House pension bill targets future police, firefighter hires Excerpt: Prime sponsor Rep. Seth Grove: "My reform proposal is designed to reduce the financial burden on local governments, safeguard public safety employee opportunities and pensions, and ensure the financial sustainability of all communities."
Legislator makes case for municipal pension reform Excerpt: Excerpt: Carlisle Borough Council President Perry Heath: "While we are not a distressed community at this point … we know that the increasing obligations for our pension costs are, in fact, going to drive us to make one of two choices — either to raise taxes significantly or to cut back significantly on services… They (police officers) work outside jobs (to spike their salary calculations). They work anything that's going to create an overtime opportunity for them so that they can increase their average annual wage and, therefore, increase the liability on the pension." He further noted that often, this overtime is in the form of voluntary assignments, like working security at high school football games. The borough is reimbursed, but the pay remains part of the pension calculation. Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski said pension costs were at $6 million annually when he took office in 2006. This year, the cost is at $18 million with an increase to $21 million expected next year. "By 2015 for Allentown, our pensions are going to consume 30 percent of our entire general fund budget."
Dover legislator floats pension reform proposal Excerpt: York County Economic Alliance president and CEO Darrell Auterson said the business community is concerned about municipal pensions because financially struggling cities, boroughs, and townships find it difficult to attract and retain good businesses. Spiraling costs would be unacceptable for a business to maintain, and they should be unacceptable in the public sector as well, he said. Perry Heath, Carlisle's borough council president, said pension reform is a public safety issue because increased pension costs cause cities, as is the case in York, to choose between raising taxes or reducing police, fire, and other services for residents.
York County lawmaker takes aim at local pension reform Excerpt: Prime sponsor Rep. Seth Grove: "There is no quick fix to the current pension crisis without a huge influx of revenue and even that won't fix the underlying problem of benefit structure. The cash balance concept draws a line in the sand on the existing DB plans, reduces benefits for new hires and has the ability to provide a source for additional revenue for unfunded liability."
PA lawmaker turns eye to municipal pension reform Excerpt: Prime sponsor Rep. Seth Grove: "As pension reform has hit the forefront of the public policy debate in the State Capitol for state pensions, we cannot forget our municipal pensions." |
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