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Los Angeles Pension Peril

"Right now, Los Angeles spends about $1.2 billion a year to fund its three pension plans. If those plans produce their projected investment return over the next five years, Los Angeles will be paying $2 billion a year in 2017. And that's if the pension funds earn an annual rate of return of 7.75%, which is almost surely unrealistic, especially given that about a third of the systems' investments are in fixed-income assets that are today paying historically low interest rates. To achieve an overall return of 7.75%, the pension funds would thus need returns of roughly 15% a year on the equities they buy. That's preposterous."

Los Angeles Leads Nation in Medicare Spending on End-Of-Life Care: $112,000

"Spending in the last two years of life was about $112,000 per patient in Los Angeles as of 2010, about 60% higher than the national average ... From 2007 to 2010, Medicare spending on end-of-life care rose 15% nationwide."

Los Angeles Should Keep Pension Reform Discussion Going

"With former Mayor Richard Riordan ... suspending his effort to put the pension measure on the May 21 ballot, voters will now get to decide whether to pay more but not whether to ask the city to pay less. [The authors] had misgivings about Riordan's proposal, but its premature disappearance closes off discussion of a genuinely important issue and eliminates a possible solution to L.A.'s budget problems.... Independent study of the plan's costs and benefits was sorely needed, but now that it's off the ballot, that's not in the cards."

Ballot Measure May Replace Pensions with 401(k)s at Los Angeles City Hall

"Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan plans to submit language Friday for a May 2013 ballot measure that would eliminate government pensions for newly hired workers at City Hall, replacing them with 401(k)-style retirement benefits. Riordan's proposal also would freeze the size of pensions for existing employees even when their salaries go up -- unless they are promoted to a higher-paying job. The plan is designed to save hundreds of millions of dollars annually by 2017 and would apply to every city worker, including police officers, firefighters and employees of the Department of Water and Power[.]"

Los Angeles City Council Backs Pension Cuts for New Workers

"[T]he Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to roll back pension benefits and boost the retirement age to 65 for new civilian employees.... Under the new plan, spouses of retired workers will no longer be eligible for city-funded healthcare. City employees will see their take-home pay reduced in years when their retirement fund takes a hit in the stock market. And workers who retire at the age of 55 after 30 years of city employment will receive pensions that are roughly one-third the amount provided to existing employees."

Los Angeles City Council Considers Two Tax Increases and a Pension Change

"For months, analysts and elected officials have been signaling that both tax increases and an overhaul of the employee pension system will be needed to keep the city afloat. On Tuesday, faced with the latest deficit forecasts, the City Council moved toward putting two tax increases on the March ballot and raising the retirement age for new employees, among other changes to the pension formula."

Retirement Costs Soon Will Take a Larger Share of Los Angeles Budget, Estimates Show

"Taxpayers in Los Angeles will see retirement costs for police officers and firefighters climb by 56% over the next four years, even after voters approved a March 2011 ballot measure that trimmed the pension benefits paid to new hires, according to projections released by city budget officials. Pensions and retiree healthcare costs for sworn employees are projected to consume $789 million of the city's general fund budget in 2016, up from $506 million this year[.]"

Public Safety Pension Costs Steadily Growing in Los Angeles

"Taxpayers in Los Angeles will see retirement costs for police officers and firefighters climb by 56% over the next four years, even after passage of a ballot measure that trimmed the pension benefits paid to new hires, according to projections released by city budget officials. Pensions and retiree healthcare costs for sworn employees are projected to consume $789 million of the city's general fund budget in 2016, up from $506 million this year[.]"

Stockpile of Unused Time by Los Angeles City Workers Could Be Costly

"As a snapshot in time, there are currently about 5.3 million hours of unused vacation time, 13.8 million hours of accrued sick leave, and 3.3 million hours of accumulated overtime on the books for sworn and civilian city employees. Those hours are not an immediate obligation of the city, but employees are entitled to the time or pay because of the hours they work."

More Q&As on the New Los Angeles Paid Sick Leave Ordinance

"The sick time benefits rules apply on July 1, 2017, for employers that qualify for the one-year small business deferral. Both sick time and minimum wage requirements for employers with 25 or fewer employees begin on July 1, 2017.... Unused paid sick leave time accrued by an employee, regardless of front-loading or accrual method, must be carried over and may be capped at a minimum of 72 hours.... To qualify as a 'large employer,' does an employer need to have 26 employees working in the city or 26 total employees anywhere (i.e., nationwide)? ... [An] employer will look to the number of employees who are working or who worked in the city of Los Angeles only."