Pension bill could reduce county taxpayer contribution
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House Republicans and Democrats united last week to pass a bill that supporters say could reduce how much taxpayers must contribute toward the costs of pensions for future Allegheny County employees.
The House vote on Bill 1761 was 194-0, and it has been sent to the state Senate Finance Committee for review and recommendation.
Democrat Matt Smith, of Mt. Lebanon, was the prime sponsor of the measure, which picked up Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Bradford Woods, and Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont, as backers.
The bill would tighten up pension eligibility provisions and raise the minimum years of service future county employees would have to work to qualify for full benefits. The $800 million system is about 78 percent funded and serves about 4,000 retirees and about 7,000 active employees.
The bill would help preserve pensions for current county employees and assure that future employees still will have access to defined-benefit retirement plans, Mr. Smith said. "It will give current workers peace of mind and make it possible for new employees still to qualify for good pensions," he said.
"This legislation can bring stability to the pension system and save taxpayers more than $1.2 billion over the next 50 years," Mr. Turzai said in a statement. "It is a change that's needed."
"Those savings will free up tax dollars that can be used to help support other county-supported programs and agencies, like Community College of Allegheny County and the Port Authority," Mr. Smith said.
House Democrats discussed the measure in their party caucus and agreed that the bill made sense, Bill Patton, a spokesman for Mr. Dermody, said.
The proposed legislation would make several major changes in how pension benefits would be earned for new workers hired after the ordinance becomes law. Benefits for current workers or retirees would be unchanged.
The changes include:
• Overtime would no longer be included in "compensation" used to calculate benefits. Under the current system, some county employees are able to increase their pension payments by working large amounts of overtime in their final years of service.
First Published February 13, 2012 12:59 am
