Threat of pensions

Dear Editor:We know that public safety costs are a major factor in the annual budget, but what percentage of the budget is accounted for by pension costs? And how much are those to increase in the future? Are we another Vallejo just waiting for the BK courthouse doors to slam shut behind us as we walk/are carried in? And please, I don't want to hear about the "smoke and mirrors" anticipation of increased future revenues that was used as a justification for the increases in spending that have been budgeted, as those increases are just not going to happen as long as the current economic malaise continues; and none of you can forecast when this situation will turn around - if you could you would be leading the Fed, or the OMB, and those guys are just treading water. Operating costs, and pensions, are the single most serious threat to local, state and federal government in our lifetimes, and this problem needs to be addressed in a realistic, grown-up matter, and not with the pixie dust and unicorn dreams that have marked previous deflections. -- Drew Kelley, Downey

********** Published: July 21, 2011 - Volume 10 - Issue 14