City looks to trim its pension costs
The City Council expressed a collective will to ask future municipal employees to shoulder part of the costs of their pensions and health benefits, a move suggested by Councilman Howard Fishman during his election campaign last year. The matter was discussed at a Thursday meeting in which council members took preliminary steps to put together a lean budget for the next fiscal year, whcih begins this summer. Council members also reached informal consensus for continuing to consider street paving a funding priority. City Manager Steve Burrell pointed out that the municipal government has begun feeling the effects of the recession that was felt by residents and businesses quite a bit earlier. “This year, probably more so than last year for the cities, we’re seeing the impact of the recession,” he said. Councilman Kit Bobko said the city must seek to trim ongoing costs like pension contributions, which continue after an employee has retired. “The legacy costs are really what I think is the anchor around the city’s neck,” he said. The city would seek the employee cost sharing during salary negotiations with employee groups. Councilman Jeff Duclos said he embraces the cost sharing…
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