By Chriss W. Street
Brietbart
The City of San Bernardino has voted to become the first participant to dump CalPERS after the state’s pension plan shocked participants by announcing contribution rates would rise by 61 percent over the next five years.
The city’s savings will grow from $4.7 million next year to $17.2 million a year by 2021. Each CalPERS participant that leaves will force pension contributions rates to rise even faster in what could result in a “death spiral.”
Breitbart News reported four months ago that the California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s actuaries had demanded the under-funded pension plan’s plans participants increase annual cash contributions by a stunning 10 percent in each of the next 5 years due to an inappropriate “assumption” about the solvency of the plan. That meant CalPERS’ annual payments would leap from $4.5 billion this year to $7.25 billion in year five.
After a five-hour screaming session last Monday, the San Bernardino City Council’s conservative majority voted 4-to-3 in favor of dissolving its 137-year-old City Fire Department and turning fire protection responsibilities over to the county.
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