Rick Scott said 6% now he wants 9.6%, thanks 4 voting Scott

They had talked about 6%. Now it is just shy of 10%. For all you Troopers that voted for this candidate, Thanks for the backup


Gov.-elect Scott eyes cuts to employee pensions
CUTS? He wants to trim taxpayer contributions to system for public workers

By GARY FINEOUT
H-T Capital Bureau


Published: Friday, December 10, 2010 at 1:00 a.m.


One of the big questions surrounding Gov.-elect Rick Scott's plan to cut billions of dollars in taxes is this: Where would he make up the difference?

Florida's nearly 700,000 public employees could be about to find out.

Scott wants to cut $1.4 billion next year from taxpayer contributions to the public employee pension program, and this week many legislators signaled their support for the notion.

Such a move would, for the first time since 1975, force teachers, firefighters, sheriff's deputies and other government employees to make significant contributions out of their own salaries. Florida is one of only a handful of states in the nation that don't require employees to pay for their pensions.

"Our state employees have the best deal in the country," said Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate and chairman of the Senate panel that is considering the changes. "They don't contribute and that's wrong."

In addition to Scott's plan, several other proposals have surfaced. All call for making public workers pay for at least part of their pensions.

"I think the time has come to make those fundamental changes," said new Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island.

Last year alone, the state, as well as cities, counties and school districts, contributed nearly $3.4 billion to the retirement fund.

Sharply cutting those contributions and forcing government employees to make up the difference isn't likely to occur without a fight. State workers have long argued that the pension is one of the perks that helps make up for lower salaries they receive working for the government. The pension contributions paid annually by taxpayers typically amount to 9.6 percent of an employee's salary.

"If you are going to hit everybody in the Florida Retirement System, that's hundreds of thousands of people," said Doug Martin of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "You are going to be cutting pay for state workers, teachers, police officers and firefighters. That's a pretty good way to make folks unhappy."

But that argument may have lost some of its resonance with the 1 million Floridians without work; millions of others seeing their pay and benefits cut; and the state itself, which is facing a $3.5 billion budget shortfall next year.

Scott is not expected to offer a specific plan for changing the state pension program until early 2011. But it is clear that he sees the retirement fund as one way to cut spending and help make up for the $1.4 billion cut he wants to make in state property taxes for schools and $700 million more in the corporate income tax.

If Scott can reduce pension contributions by $1.4 billion next year, he theoretically could transfer the savings to schools to make up for the property tax cut.

Repeated attempts to interview Scott or his aides about cutting government pension contributions were unsuccessful. Scott has previously called the pension fund "a ticking fiscal time bomb."

Historically, politicians have been reluctant to touch that bomb for fear it will blow up in their faces, and the current situation seems particularly tense. State employees are already on edge because they have not received a raise since 2006.

Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, the Senate budget chairman, said he would prefer to make cuts elsewhere in the state budget before forcing workers to pay for their pensions.

"We have a lot of good people who work for the state of Florida," Alexander said. "I may have to go there, but I'm trying to do it by controlling costs in other programs."

Florida is home to one of the largest pension plans in the nation -- assets are worth roughly $122 billion. The fund has only enough funding to cover 87.9 percent of its overall obligations to current and future retirees.

It is unclear how Scott would make $1.4 billion in cuts to the pension contribution. The state paid nearly $678.7 million in 2009 to cover its employees. By contrast, counties, cities and school districts paid $2.55 billion to cover their employee contribution costs. So presumably, Scott and the Legislature must convince local governments and schools to go along with the cuts -- perhaps in exchange for a promise that these would replace what they might lose from Scott's property tax reduction.

Lt. Gov.-elect Jennifer Carroll on Wednesday refused to answer how Scott plans to make his plan work, saying it would be made clear when Scott unveils his first proposed budget in early February.

"We're formulating the exact rollout so I can't go into the specifics at this time," Carroll said. "Just stay tuned."




http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20 ... e-pensions

"Florida is home to one of the largest pension plans in the nation -- assets are worth roughly $122 billion. The fund has only enough funding to cover 87.9 percent of its overall obligations to current and future retirees."




If this happens, where we Rick Scott find the money to start paying out for all the poeple that will suddenly retire? And where will he find the qualified replacements? Granted many people need jobs right now, but most of them are not qualified to replace the thousands that will suddenly retire!

"Florida is home to one of the largest pension plans in the nation -- assets are worth roughly $122 billion. The fund has only enough funding to cover 87.9 percent of its overall obligations to currentet it and future retirees."




If this happens, where we Rick Scott find the money to start paying out for all the poeple that will suddenly retire? And where will he find the qualified replacements? Granted many people need jobs right now, but most of them are not qualified to replace the thousands that will suddenly retire!

Don't you get it....It's part of the reason why HCSO is hiring nothing but very young people fresh out of school and giving the cold shoulder to the Office's Veteran Deputies. In case you haven't noticed, it is already immensely affecting the caliber of folks on the street and guaranteed to get worse. It's quite obvious that the office is taking advantage of the poor job market and hiring all these young adults with Bachelors & Masters Degrees who can't find work elsewhere. They can keep these young new hires at or near entry pay levels for years and have already shown the short lived "step plan" is not going to be adhered to. Quite clearly, the Office wants the Veteran Deputies to move on in an effort to save salary costs, which in turn is a big part of the reason why the Veteran Deputies are being treated like damaged goods without a future. For those Vets that spent a heck of a lot of years putting their necks on the line in support of this Sheriff's Office, it is a very difficult thing to watch how it is being handled. I too agree that those Vets not forced out will begin to retire in massive numbers. It's really sad when you put so much loyal time & effort into a career such as this and then discover that none of it really matters when new administrations take over and the almighty dollar is at stake :!:

[Average Joe]

oh well

"Florida is home to one of the largest pension plans in the nation -- assets are worth roughly $122 billion. The fund has only enough funding to cover 87.9 percent of its overall obligations to currentet it and future retirees."




If this happens, where we Rick Scott find the money to start paying out for all the poeple that will suddenly retire? And where will he find the qualified replacements? Granted many people need jobs right now, but most of them are not qualified to replace the thousands that will suddenly retire!

Don't you get it....It's part of the reason why HCSO is hiring nothing but very young people fresh out of school and giving the cold shoulder to the Office's Veteran Deputies. In case you haven't noticed, it is already immensely affecting the caliber of folks on the street and guaranteed to get worse. It's quite obvious that the office is taking advantage of the poor job market and hiring all these young adults with Bachelors & Masters Degrees who can't find work elsewhere. They can keep these young new hires at or near entry pay levels for years and have already shown the short lived "step plan" is not going to be adhered to. Quite clearly, the Office wants the Veteran Deputies to move on in an effort to save salary costs, which in turn is a big part of the reason why the Veteran Deputies are being treated like damaged goods without a future. For those Vets that spent a heck of a lot of years putting their necks on the line in support of this Sheriff's Office, it is a very difficult thing to watch how it is being handled. I too agree that those Vets not forced out will begin to retire in massive numbers. It's really sad when you put so much loyal time & effort into a career such as this and then discover that none of it really matters when new administrations take over and the almighty dollar is at stake :!:

This is not about the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. This is about ALL the state workers who are able to retire. That does include workers at the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, however The Governor and the state of Florida won’t bat an eye if there is a problem with workers at one agency…….HCSO. THEY WILL have serious trouble if this same scenario is duplicated all over the state. With not only every Sheriff’s office, but with every state and county run agency.

Where will the qualified replacements come from? Where will the money to pay them come from? Especially since the retirement fund is not 100 % funded. IF the Governor is trying to better fund the FSR, one way to sabotage that is to have a sudden mass exodus where EVERYONE eligible cashes out at the same time. That’s what you call counterproductive!

stupid republicans and ya'll voted for him

[Average Joe]

just make sure that any changes to FRS also include the legislators.

I got my monies and am laughing all the way to the bank every month. The next thing they will do is stop the envestment plan so monies can not be removed from FRS so they have more for their disposal.

just make sure that any changes to FRS also include the legislators.

Not that Prick Scott would care since he is independently ugly $$rich$$, but it would definately sway the vote of other legislators. My guess is that they would try to find some way to exempt themselves. This is one time that ALL Leo's & Firefighters need to band together and march our happy butts straight to Tallahassee and stand in the streets blocking traffic! Every other group does it and gets special treatment. This issue is huge for those nearing retirement and probably even bigger for those with a long career ahead of them. If you sit back on this issue and do nothing, which seems to be the popular choice for many at HCSO, don't cry & complain down the road when you lose hundreds of thousands of dollars and end up having to work at least (30) years to qualify for retirement. Everybody sat back on the Union issues and now there is no more "Step-Plan" pay raise system in place at HCSO. They will not stop depleting your pay & benefits until everyone stands together as "One Team". Yes, contrary to the way things are at HCSO, you are allowed to stand up and fight for each other.. :shock:

Yeah, that damned governor. He should just keep his mouth shut and let the fund go bankrupt as well as the state so it will be fair, everyone loses. I have long argued that we were better off that TPD b