CORAL GABLES
Coral Gables OK's pension cuts for employees and managers


Coral Gables commissioners cut management pension benefits -- but not as much as for the rank-and-file workers.

BY TANIA VALDEMORO

TVALDEMORO@MIAMIHERALD.COM

Last month, City Hall secretaries, mechanics and code enforcement officers learned that the Coral Gables City Commission would reduce their pension benefits. Now, managers, supervisors and even commissioners will have their pensions pared down -- though not as much as the city's 343 general employees, who are represented by Teamsters Local 769.
Police and firefighters, whose pensions are determined by separate contracts with the city, will not be affected by these cuts.
These reductions come at a time when Coral Gables is struggling to come up with $198 million in the coming years to cover the cost of pension benefits.
Last year, the city put $26 million in employee pension funds, but pension costs soared by $30 million.
On Tuesday, the city commission voted 4-1 to give preliminary approval to an ordinance that would implement their Aug. 23 decision to lower pension payouts for general employees and require them to contribute more of their salaries towards their pensions -- up to 10 percent from 5 percent.
The Teamsters Local 769 has not yet voted on these issues, City Manager Patrick Salerno said Friday. Even if members opposed the changes, they would remain in effect until there is a new union contract, union and city officials said.
Mike Scott, president of Teamsters Local 769, could not be reached for comment Friday.
After unsuccessful negotiations with the Teamsters, the city commission decided on Aug. 23 to unilaterally impose changes to the workers' contract for the 2009-10 fiscal year. The changes become the benchmark for negotiations in the future. The union contract expired in 2008.
Mayor Don Slesnick voted against the measure.
``I feel we have gone too far too fast. This only affects a number of people in our city employment, not all of them,'' said Slesnick, an attorney who represents municipal employee unions. ``I think we are being too draconian in our approach.''
Jeanie Berryhill, a police dispatcher and union member, agreed.
``You put us all in the same retirement system,'' she told commissioners. ``We should all be treated fairly.''
The changes are: The calculation for general employees' pensions would be based on the employee's five highest years or salary instead of three; their pension multiplier has been reduced to 2.25 percent from 3 percent.
A retiree's pension benefit normally is a percentage of working pay calculated based on the multiplier times the number of years of service.
So a worker with 20 years of service and a 3 percent multiplier could retire on 60 percent of working pay.
Also, they will have to wait longer to retire. Currently, an employee can retire at age 52 with 10 years of service. Now, they will retire at age 62 with 10 years of service or age 65 with six years of service.
The ordinance further reduces pensions for Coral Gables' 115 non-union employees, including managers, supervisors, even commissioners -- starting Oct. 1.
None of these non-union pensions would exceed 75 percent of employees' salaries. At the Aug. 23 special session with the Teamsters, Salerno told commissioners that reductions would be made to non-union pensions.
According to the ordinance, the multiplier for non-union pensions would decrease like this:
• Managers, who include commissioners, would keep the 3 percent multiplier for their first 10 years of service. In subsequent years, the multiplier would be reduced to 2.25 percent for every year of service.
• Professionals and supervisors, would have a 2.5 percent pension multiplier for the first 10 years of service, and then a 2.25 percent multiplier for subsequent years of service.
• Commissioners will decide in a few weeks whether or not to change the multiplier for ``appointed'' employees, such as City Attorney Elizabeth Hernandez and City Clerk Walter Foeman. Salerno does not belong to the non-union pension plan.
The City Commission will discuss the pension benefits again at their next meeting. The meeting starts at 9 a.m. on Sept 28 at City Hall, 405 Biltmore Way. The city's final budget hearing will be at 5 p.m. the same day.