By David Zahniser
Los Angeles Times
Confronted with a major financial crisis, the Los Angeles City Council voted three years ago to cut retirement benefits for new hires by raising the retirement age and reducing the size of pensions.
The Coalition of L.A. City Unions, which represents an estimated 17,000 civilian city workers, responded with a legal challenge. To get that group to settle its case and sign off on a new salary contract, Mayor Eric Garcetti and other city negotiators offered a new set of retirement benefits last summer — one that’s more generous to new hires than the 2012 plan, but less lucrative than what long-term employees have been receiving.
Now, the city’s top budget analyst is recommending that the City Council approve that agreement, saying it would produce $15.7 billion in savings over 30 years.
In a recent memo, City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana advised council members to abandon their 2012 pension-cutting measure, which was on track to save $6.9 billion over three decades. Lawmakers will need to replace it, he said, with a new package of retirement benefits for new hires, which is expected to cut pension costs by $5.2 billion over the same time frame.
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