Faced with mounting unfunded liabilities for pensions and benefits of Fire and Police service employees and no likely relief in the near term, a sober reevaluation of the structure of these pensions and benefits has to be made. Although vitally important to our City, even these public servants must make concessions. Unless termination or renegotiation is provided for in the current contract, we must honor our contractual obligations to current members of the forces. However, future contracts must take into consideration the new economic realities. The age of retirement with full pension may have to be significantly increased or payout of pension benefits deferred to a later date. This may lead to a 2, or more, tiered system. The entire pension and benefits plan may need to be restructured to tie actual performance of funds invested to payout. We must reduce or eliminate unfunded liabilities as soon as possible.
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