Los Angeles City Council Consider Scaling Back Pensions
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — This coming Tuesday, the LA city council is expected to vote to put a measure on the March municipal ballot, allowing voters to decide about scaling back pensions for firefighters and cops.
The council heard a report from the actuary who studied the proposed ballot measure Friday, then decided to wait until Tuesday to vote.
L.A. City Council Considers Plans To Scale Back Pensions: KNX 1070's Bill Cooper reports.
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The council has until Nov. 3 to approve the measure for placement on the March 8 ballot.
City Council President Eric Garcetti urged his colleagues to support the initiative, saying "We stick to the numbers, and an actuary who is bound by law to do analysis not based on politics but based on numbers actually showed that when pension is designed the right way, it is cheaper for the people of Los Angeles."
According to the city's budget analysts, pensions make up 18 percent of the city's expenses this fiscal year, and will be double that by 2014.
State law hinders officials from reducing the pensions of existing employees, but a ballot measure can be used to scale back the retirement pay of future police officers and firefighters.
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