California: Pension Problems: Santa Barbara Projects $2.9 Million Shortfall

Going forward, even as the economy rebounds, [Santa Barbara] city officials expect that rising employee pension costs to be the No. 1 challenge facing the city.

The city's payments to the California Public Employees Retirement System are expected to rise by $1 million next year and another $5 million by 2014.

Police and fire retirement costs will rise from 36% to 43% of the city's entire payroll during that time.

For every dollar the city pays in police and fire departments' employee salaries, the city pays 43 cents to the state's public employee retirement system to cover public safety employee benefits.

For more, see Pension Problems: Santa Barbara Projects $2.9 Million Shortfall; City Looks to Cut Employee Retirement Costs by Joshua Molina, April 20, 2011 at The Daily Sound.