Cheaper City Pensions, Group Suggests

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Cheaper City Pensions, Group Suggests

By Dan Janison
Newsday.com, May 19, 2003

Amid the city's first major wave of layoffs, a business-funded budget group called Monday for charging city employees for their health insurance and offering future employees cheaper pensions.

The Citizens Budget Commission said compensating firefighters costs more than any other employee: $125,169 per year, including $74,393 average salary and $50,776 in fringe benefits, mostly pensions.

"Growth in pay represents a relatively small part of the growth in overall compensation," for city workers, the CBC said, a rise slightly faster than inflation at 14.6 percent from 2000 to 2004.

Police officers were close behind, followed by school employees and other civilian workers.

The CBC analysis added that pension contributions per worker are soaring from $2,263 in fiscl year 2000 to $11,005 in fiscal 2004. Health insurance costs will have grown in that period to $5,791 per worker, or 38 percent, they said.

Unions have resisted such "givebacks" in talks with the Bloomberg administration if their members draw no compensation for them.

The mayor's office has warned that only such labor cost savings -- a different pension system for future workers, changes in workrules in firehouses, co-pays for health insurance -- can avert thousands more layoffs.

In other fiscal-crisis news, a report by the non-partisan Independent Budget Office predicted that administrative consolidations planned by the city would likely lead to reduced social services.

Seven city agencies would be affected by the restructuring plan put forth by the administration, among them the Adminstration for Childrens' Serivces, the Department of Youth and Community Development, and the Department of Education. In addition, the Department of Employment would be eliminated.

"The majority of the savings," said the IBO, "would likely be achieved through service cutbacks or be borne by the nonprofit groups and other agencies that contract with the city to provide the programs affected by the restructuring. The plan includes a direct $10 million cut in funding for youth services."

Against the background of hundreds of its members being laid off, the United Sanitationmen's Association issued its own review, setting forth the productivity increases those staffers agreed to in 5 phases since 1980.