El Dorado County faces $264 mil. in unfunded pension liability
By Loretta Kalb, Sacramento Bee
After four years of budget downsizing and job cuts and an economy only now starting to move, El Dorado County is left with this:
The county’s unfunded liability for its CalPERS pensions exceeds $264 million; that’s up $172 million in just one 12-month cycle.
“It’s a huge problem,” county Auditor-Controller Joe Harn said last week, “and the solution is going to be extremely painful.”
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System is asking local governments throughout the state to contribute significantly more for employee pensions this year, in large part to cover investment losses.
El Dorado County’s budget faces a projected $7 million deficit in 2011-12. Supervisors will look to close that gap in the coming months.
So far, the effects of the budget travails aren’t all that obvious in the county, which has about 148,000 residents.
“We have tried to do our best to minimize the impact to the public,” El Dorado County principal analyst Mike Applegarth said.
Considering the impact this issue will have on the residents you would think a little deeper reporting might have occurred on this subject by now.
This didn’t happen over night and the media is culpable for being the carpet this issues has been swept under.
This paper did a great job with exposing the wages in this town but since then ???
A reporter should ask JOE HARN Four Questions –
Is this the tip of the iceberg?
Is this figure all PENSION liability?
Does this figure include other contractual retirement benefits?
Are there other lifetime benefits such as health care contracts in addition to this?
“The California Public Employees’ Retirement System is asking local governments throughout the state to contribute significantly more for employee pensions this year, in large part to cover investment losses.”
Why the hell was the California Public Employees’ Retirement System involved with such risky investments? Why was the County agreeing to pensions It can’t afford?
This certainly has the appearance of criminal negligence at best and outright fraud if more thoroughly reviewed.
Totally agree with you Steve. I just drove by the CalPers building in Sacramento and was quite shocked at the money spent on such a building! The cost of it probably could have provided most of our town with a good retirement.
The investments are under scrutiny now but the money is gone….it even has one of our local residents under investigation for his part in CalPers investments (the casinos earned millions of his money through his losses).
How about taking the $200 million given EDC for that new Indian casino and giving the money to calpers? Then file charges against those who invested the funds unwisely.
Not a dime of additional taxpayer money should be given to CALPERS. File for bankruptcy, let them figure out how to get themselves out this mess.
I have a real problem with firefighters making 80,000 to 145,000 a year for working 10 days a month.
Thge reckoning is here.
From the mideast to US to ca. and wisconson people won’t take it anymore, and they (gov.) still don’t get it.
As long as the states and local government keep their head in the sand the problem will grow and grow and well, grow. You can’t spend money you don’t have and asking more from the people isn’t going to fly! Work inside your means like the rest of us have to do. Wake up!
Most of the County Supervisors duped into this debacle are now nowhere to be found, and collecting their own generous monthly public payouts as well. Their generosity and naivety overseeing the public pursestrings have now resulted in a fiscal time bomb that will likely explode in the faces of the taxpayers.
Taxpayers would be best served by having the County declare bankruptcy, unravel this mess and start over from scratch.