Where benefits really stand

Dave Sullivan

Huntington Beach employee union leader John Von Holle is a dedicated

employee and a very nice guy, but he gets some of the facts wrong

(Sounding Off, Sept. 4). He refers to critics of Huntington Beach

employee benefits as “well-meaning but nevertheless uninformed.” The

truth is the critics are both well-meaning and well-informed. I will

address several of the points on which I believe Von Holle is

mistaken.

“Why do so many Huntington Beach employees rank among the lowest

paid public employees in the county?”

Fact: In the year 2000 the administration recommended and the City

Council voted to place Huntington Beach employees at the 75th

percentile in salary among all Orange County cities. This was

followed by the implementation of a reclassification study (upward

salary spiral) and finally wage increases on top of that. After all

that clever maneuvering city employees are doing very well indeed.

“The city has long been able to fund its employer retirement

contributions for nothing ... 19 years of “super-funded status ...

etc.”

Fact: The taxpayers have spent millions of dollars funding

employee retirement. What do you think that employee retirement line

item on our property tax bill is all about? The city needed money so

desperately to fund the generous benefits that they even tried to

collect the tax illegally with the disastrous results we’ve seen in

the newspapers. Incidentally did you know that the taxpayers also pay

the employees’ portion of retirement? Huntington Beach employees do

not pay a single penny toward their retirement.

General complaining about the employee health care plan.

Fact: Huntington Beach employees have what I like to call a

Cadillac health-care plan that is much better than the vast majority

of city taxpayers. However until this year (average $48 per month)

the employees have not paid a penny in premiums. The taxpayers pay

for it.

No discussion of employee benefits would be complete without

talking about the supplement retirement benefit. I call this the

“have your cake and eat it too” benefit. The employee retires and

selects the option that allows his or her spouse to continue to

receive the retirement after the employee’s death. We taxpayers make

up the difference (Supplemental Retirement Benefit) so the employee

receives the full benefit. Any taxpayer who has retired understands

what’s going on with this one. This outrageous benefit had a $14

million unfunded liability in 1994; the unfunded liability is now

$26.3 million.

We are fortunate to have many dedicated and hard working employees

in Huntington Beach. However I must pose the question: Why should

Huntington Beach employees receive benefits far in excess of those

received by the taxpayers who also have to pay for the benefits?

That’s the $100-million question. The cost of these excessive

benefits is a fiscal poison pill that, if unchecked, will bankrupt

our city.

* DAVE SULLIVAN is a Huntington Beach resident and City

Councilman. To contribute to “Sounding Off” please e-mail us at

[email protected] or fax us at (714) 965-7174.