Dayton Daily News: Teachers vow fight over benefit cuts

From John Curry, May 18, 2009
Some 1.7 million public workers and former employees may see changes in their pensions.

DaytonDailyNews.com, May 17, 2009
By Laura A. Bischoff
Staff Writer

Teachers in Ohio can start their careers right out of college and retire 30 years later, when they’re just entering their 50s, and begin collecting two-thirds of their salary in the form of a pension check.

But that formula could change.

Ohio’s five public pension systems have collectively lost $63.6 billion in value, and they pay out more than $2 billion a year for health care coverage — a benefit that isn’t mandated but has been offered traditionally.

The pension funds for teachers, police, firefighters, state troopers and other government workers are crunching the numbers on how various changes would help keep the five funds solvent.

Options under consideration include increasing minimum retirement ages, decreasing cost of living allowances, requiring retirees or their spouses to pay more for health care, and changing how the pensions are calculated.

“I have a problem with all of that,” said Pat Lynch, a Dayton teacher with 35 years of service. “Don’t change midstream on us. I’m very close to retirement.”

She predicted that teachers would fight those changes “big time.”

Scott Maney, a junior high school social studies teacher in Springboro, agreed.

“One of the most important parts of the whole benefits package is retirement,” said Maney, who has been a teacher for seven years. “It’s important for all the teachers across the state to be really aware of what’s going on. It’s easy to give benefits away. It’s real hard to get them back.”

Another scenario would be asking taxpayers to chip in more toward what is set aside for workers’ retirement. School districts, cities and other governments already contribute between 14 percent and 26.5 percent of every paycheck toward pensions.

Bill Estabrook, former Dayton city manager and now director of the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund, said he doesn’t think local governments are able to pay more.

Over the last 40 years, Ohio’s public pension systems sweetened the pot with more and more generous offerings: 3 percent per year cost of living adjustments, subsidized health care, higher multipliers used to calculate the monthly pension check, and a chance for police and firefighters to retire as young as 48.

In 1996, however, a legislative study recommended ratcheting back on some of the benefits as a way to shore up the systems. For example, the study said, troopers, police and firefighters should be able to retire at 52, not 48.

Extraordinary investment returns over the past decade allowed pension officials and lawmakers to put off such politically unpopular decisions, said Aris Hutras, director of the Ohio Retirement Study Council, a bipartisan oversight board.

Hutras said he expects lawmakers to consider a pension reform bill sometime this year or next.

“Our job is to look out for the next generation, not the next election,” he said. “Change could be unpopular, but it’s change for the good.”

Contact this reporter at (614)224-1624 or lbischoff@DaytonDailyNews.com.
John Curry: Hey, we lost almost 5 Billion more than OPERS and yet 80% of our investments are accomplished "in house" as opposed to OPERS 60% and...to top that off...their bonuses pale in comparison to STRS bonuses. What's wrong with this picture?
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