Posted on 12/20/2010 12:55:08 PM PST by Libloather
Retiree Care to Cost City $4.4 Billion
By ELIZABETH LESLY STEVENS
Published: December 16, 2010
After months of delays, the San Francisco controller’s office announced Thursday that it expected the city to pay $4.4 billion to provide municipal retirees and their dependents with lifetime health benefits.
The city has set aside $9.7 million to cover the costs.
The estimate of San Francisco’s unmet health care liability has been closely watched by ratings agencies, labor unions and other groups concerned about the city’s long-term finances. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded San Francisco’s debt rating in November, citing the enormous retiree health-care obligations, among other factors.
In an interview, Benjamin Rosenfield, the city’s controller, said that the situation would be worse if the city had not enacted changes that went into effect last year. New city employees must pay 2 percent of their salary into a health care trust fund. Requirements to receive lifetime coverage were also tightened.
But Mr. Rosenfield said tens of thousands of employees are still entitled to lifetime coverage, and they pay nothing into the fund. “The bad news is the liability associated with the employees hired before” 2009 who contribute nothing, Mr. Rosenfield said.
He said the city’s liability will grow to $9.7 billion by 2033 if no further measures are taken.
To put the $4.4 billion liability in perspective, San Francisco has borrowed $2.6 billion through general obligation bonds in its entire history.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
To politicians it is.
I knew that the average Democrat municipal office holder was severely math challenged. But WOW!
Want to buy a Bridge?
Want to buy a Bridge?
CA and its cities spent billions on wealth transfer, education and healthcare for criminal illegal immigrants, and mondo expensive pensions, WHEN THEY KNEW THAT THEY DIDN’T HAVE THE MONEY!!!!!!
It was all in the plan to raises taxes, get a Federal bailout and move to a Marxist system out of Washington.
The only place they will go would be with large fees on everyone’s property taxes to pay these lottery sized benefits.
Unions payed about 150 million to elect Brown.
“$4.4 billion - $9.7 million “
See what happens when colleges admit the totally unqualified?
They did it with congress, they did it with the Obamaloon.
> it expected the city to pay $4.4 billion to provide municipal retirees and their dependents with lifetime health benefits.
>The city has set aside $9.7 million to cover the costs.
the city’s controller, said that the situation would be worse if the city had not enacted changes......
How could it be worse? What is the difference in the order of magnitude of impossible tasks?
Is it harder to lift a 2,000 pound stone or a 5,000 pound stone with your bare hands?
Two Tenths of one percent!
That'll help.
I'll bet that $9 million isn't in cash, either. Probably some “full faith and credit” IOU.
This type of “management” should be a crime with those responsible breaking big rocks into little ones. Instead, this is a game of the greater fool with the city expecting the state to bail them out and the state expecting the Federal government to do the same.
“(San Francisco has set aside $9.7 million to cover costs)”
That would probably cover the costs of pain killers and euthanasia.
Their 9.7 million dollars won’t even cover a years supply of condoms and drugs needed to keep their welfare cases alive and humping each other.
Just send all non-public employee city residents a bill for their share. They vote for this crap, let them pay for it.
Talk about fuzzy math....
Well damn... and the tax payers pick up the remaining?
Last time I visited San Fran (summer 2006)... my hotel bill was loaded with tons of taxes / fees... now I know where it went.
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