Golden egg retirement plan





California’s residents and taxpayers must now face what many consider to be staggering higher costs for water, energy, sanitation, storm drainage controls and all the other essential infrastructure needed as our state moves forward toward a population of 50 million.

The Westlake City Council, in the meantime, is granting its employees significantly greater retirement benefits; in fact, the city has awarded about one-third more money for retirement pay than the California norm for public employees.

That norm itself is very generous, the highest in the nation, an estimated 40 percent greater than the same employee in the private sector, and a broadly recognized matter of great concern for California’s taxpayers and economy. No other local government agency in our region offers Westlake’s obscene level of retirement pay.

Should a public employee earning $140,000 annually, who chooses to retire at age 60 with only 25 years of public employment- be it with Westlake alone or a combination of employers– begin retirement at $105,000 annually and be paid about $2.86 million in total retirement compensation under a program to which the employee contributed not one red penny?

I think not, particularly when that employee receives retirement medical coverage and the fruits of a 401(k) program funded by both the employee and the city. Westlake’s plan would pay out more than $2.8 million to such an employee who lived to the statistical life expectancy for a healthy 60-year-old. One must question whether these retirement benefits exceed the total earnings the employee during 25 years of employment.

The Westlake City Council awarded the extra 33 percent (and an additional $100,000 contribution to the city manager’s 401(k) program) with no explanation to the residents and taxpayers of the city; in fact, without one word of discussion in any public meeting.

Join me in urging the Westlake Village City Council to
follow the norm for California’s public employee retirees.
Joe Bowman Westlake Village




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