06-14-2007, 10:48 PM
http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_165164856.html
Huge Pensions Plaguing Cities Looking At Cuts
The fight over property tax reform in Tallahassee has many talking about the potential cuts to essential services.
Thursday firefighters from across the state gathered on the steps of the state capitol to oppose the cuts, saying they would jeopardize the safety of those they serve.
Police, firemen, and government employees account for a large part of the tax bill we pay yearly to the state. Not only do Floridians pay for their salaries, they also pay their pensions.
A Miami Dade fire lieutenant making about $86-thousand a year will retire with an annual pension of about $65-thousand, or 75-percent of his pay.
A City of Miami police lieutenant who makes roughly $92-thousand a year will retire at $75-thousand, or 81-percent of his salary.
Police and fire officials say they earn their pension by putting their lives on the line every day.
But it is not just police and firefighters who receive a government paid pension.
CBS4's Gary Nelson found that at the City of Miami, a mid-level bureaucrat making $75-thousand a year can retire at 72-percent of his salary, or $52-thousand a year.
But those pensions may not be around for ever.
In 2002, Miami paid $19 million in pension costs. In 2006, that tab ballooned to $61 million a year; an increase of 400-percent in four years.
"It can not stay the way it is," said Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, "we certainly recognize it and have recognized it for a while."
Diaz says things must change and a good place to start is in Tallahassee since it was the legislature that mandated that these retirement expenses by paid by the taxpayer.
Huge Pensions Plaguing Cities Looking At Cuts
The fight over property tax reform in Tallahassee has many talking about the potential cuts to essential services.
Thursday firefighters from across the state gathered on the steps of the state capitol to oppose the cuts, saying they would jeopardize the safety of those they serve.
Police, firemen, and government employees account for a large part of the tax bill we pay yearly to the state. Not only do Floridians pay for their salaries, they also pay their pensions.
A Miami Dade fire lieutenant making about $86-thousand a year will retire with an annual pension of about $65-thousand, or 75-percent of his pay.
A City of Miami police lieutenant who makes roughly $92-thousand a year will retire at $75-thousand, or 81-percent of his salary.
Police and fire officials say they earn their pension by putting their lives on the line every day.
But it is not just police and firefighters who receive a government paid pension.
CBS4's Gary Nelson found that at the City of Miami, a mid-level bureaucrat making $75-thousand a year can retire at 72-percent of his salary, or $52-thousand a year.
But those pensions may not be around for ever.
In 2002, Miami paid $19 million in pension costs. In 2006, that tab ballooned to $61 million a year; an increase of 400-percent in four years.
"It can not stay the way it is," said Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, "we certainly recognize it and have recognized it for a while."
Diaz says things must change and a good place to start is in Tallahassee since it was the legislature that mandated that these retirement expenses by paid by the taxpayer.