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Gov. Scott's pension cuts saved Broward millions, cost employees
By Brittany Wallman
October 2, 2011
Controversial cuts cost thousands of workers in South Florida state retirement benefits, but they saved local governments, and taxpayers, millions.
Led by Gov. Scott, the state Legislature took the knife to a retirement plan that until now had been held sacred, the Florida Retirement System, or FRS. The fallout rained across the state, to counties, school boards, sheriff’s offices and cities whose employees or elected officials are in the same retirement plan, the FRS, and are now contributing 3 percent of their pay – money the local governments used to pay.
From Sunny Isles Beach to the Broward County School Board to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the savings were gargantuan – all of it money that the governor said Tuesday he didn’t want them to be allowed to keep.
“We have a pension that’s not funded,’’ he said in a visit to the Sun Sentinel. “ … I would have put the money back into the pension plan and not given it to the counties.’’
Though none of the local officials bragged about the millions back in their bank accounts, Broward’s school system saved $67 million; Palm Beach’s saved $55 million. Broward County government got $15 million they could spend elsewhere, because of the changes. Palm Beach sheriff, $18.4 million.
The reductions were bittersweet. Employees, including many of the same people creating the budgets, paid for it in their paychecks. Starting in the summer, they had to contribute 3 percent to their retirement plans for the first time.
“It’s rank and file. It’s teachers, it’s bus drivers, it’s social workers, it’s code enforcement,’’ Broward Commissioner Ilene Lieberman said. “You name it, it’s rank and file.’’
To those who’ve not had raises and aren’t getting raises this year, she said, “this is like a 3 percent cut.’’ ...
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Read the entire piece and post a comment on sun-sentinel.com.
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