Category Archives: Measure A – 5 New Taxes and 6 Tax Inceases

Measure “A” – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Jane Waag Friedkin, Former Councilwoman

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Mike

Measure “A”

I urge residents to read Measure A in its entirety. You will find there is not a sunset clause on the tax increase, but simply reduces the 2.5% to 2% in 2017, creating a “forever” tax.

I firmly believe, based on current and past irresponsible deficit spending by our city council, and the persistent mentality of all elected officials, is to raise taxes every time they overspend.

Raising taxes discourages new businesses from coming to El Segundo. Don’t’ believe the threats made by the “Vote Yes on A”. They do not have residents best interests in mind. They only say what they want you to believe. Let these “well to do Yes on A” contributors write a check to the city in any amount they want and as often as the want. They can write off whatever they give on their federal tax.

Another important point to consider – it now takes only 50% of voters to pass the tax increase, not the 2/3 as in the past. Please get out and vote No on Measure A.

The City Attorney said, “The resolution on how to spend the money is non-binding.” This Council chose the non-binding route.

Please vote and vote No on Measure A.

– Jane Waag Friedkin, Former Councilwoman Continue reading →

Posted in California, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Elections, Letters to the Editor, Measure A - 5 New Taxes and 6 Tax Inceases, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues | Tagged April 8 2014 El Segundo General Municipal Election, city, City of El Segundo, El Segundo, El Segundo 2014 Measure A Tax Hikes, El Segundo Herald, Jane Waag Friedkin, Letter to the Editor, Letter to the El Segundo Herald, Measure A, taxes | Comments Off

Welcome to the City of El Segundo $100K+ CalPERS Pension Club!

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Mike

by Michael D. Robbins
Director, Public Safety Project, PublicSafetyProject.org

March 25, 2014

Below is a list of City of El Segundo, California employees who retired with California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) pensions paying them $100,000 or more per year. The highest annual pension for El Segundo is $198,272.04. El Segundo is a small City with about 5.5 square miles of land area and about 16,849 residents in 2012.

CalPERS pensions are Defined Benefit Plans that guarantee retirees their full pension payments, regardless of how much was paid into the pension fund and regardless of the performance of the pension plan’s investment portfolio, with taxpayers obligated to make up the difference. In contrast, 401(k) plans, which are common in the private sector, are Defined Contribution Plans, where the benefits paid out to retirees depends on how much was paid into the retirement plan, and on the performance of the investment funds the employees individually selected from the available choices.

The CalPERS pensions are so high because the City employee salaries are so high, especially for the firefighter and police employees, and because the City provides the employees with the maximum allowable pension formula. The annual pension income from firefighter and police CalPERS pensions is 3% of the single highest year salary for each year they worked, up to a maximum of 90%, with retirement at age 50 or 55. Upon retirement, firefighters and police live just as long as miscellaneous (non-safety) employees – about age 83 for the men and 85 for the women – and the life expectancy keeps increasing over time with medical advances.

Thus, the taxpayers end up paying for at least two fire and police departments – the ones doing the work, and the ones enjoying long lavish retirements while receiving multi-million dollar pensions.

The salary upon which CalPERS pensions are based includes all those “Special Compensation” add-ons in the union contracts, that average an additional 33% on top of base salary for El Segundo police and firefighters. “Special Compensation” is paid even for things that are already existing job requirements or are unrelated to the job, including wearing a uniform and having a driver license.

For example, fire engineers (second-level firefighters) whose job description includes driving the fire engine are paid additional “Special Compensation” under their union contract to have a driver license to drive the fire engine. All “Special Compensation” increases the salary counted towards the pension payout and the pension cost to the City’s taxpayers.

The elected City Council controls pension costs in three significant ways: (1) Amounts of employee salaries, which are increased by pay raises and “Special Compensation”; (2) Percentage of total pension contributions employees are required to pay; and (3) Pension plan options the City provides.

Firefighter and police pensions pay 3% of their single highest year salary for each year worked, up to 90%. El Segundo Mayor Bill Fisher supported firefighter and police pay raises of 11.25% to 32.3% over three years, plus additional 5% annual “Step” raises, approved 4/7/09 and 12/2/08, jacking up pension costs.

The El Segundo City Council can save more than $3.3 million yearly by requiring City employees to pay half their total pension contributions, as allowed under state law effective 1/1/13. The City now pays 71% to 94% of total pension contributions.

The City Council can save several million more yearly by eliminating automatic additional 5% annual “Step” raises, and “Special Compensation” for things that are existing job requirements or are unrelated to the job.

These savings must be negotiated with the City unions later this year, after the April 8, 2014 election. Measure A is on the ballot for that election. Measure A bundles ELEVEN TAX HIKES in one ballot measure. The Measure A tax windfall will weaken the City Council’s bargaining position and preclude these savings. … Continue reading →

Posted in California, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Elections, Firefighter and Police Union Compensation and Pensions, Government Employee Compensation and Pensions, Measure A - 5 New Taxes and 6 Tax Inceases, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues | Tagged $100K Pension Club, April 8 2014 El Segundo General Municipal Election, Bill Fisher, California, California Public Employees Retirement System, CalPERS, City of El Segundo, El Segundo, El Segundo 2014 Measure A Tax Hikes, El Segundo Firefighters Association, El Segundo Police Officers Association, ESFA, ESPOA, firefighters, mayor, pensions, police, union | Comments Off

Measure ‘A’ – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Richard J. Switz

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Mike

Measure ‘A’

While reviewing my sample ballot, Measure ‘A’ reminded me of an old carpenter helpers’ comment, to wit: “I’ve cut this board off twice, and it is still too short!”

Measure ‘A’ proponents say our tax structure for businesses is lower than neighboring cities… isn’t that the way it should be if we intend to attract new business? I’m befuddled to hear Council candidates tout a need for new business on the one hand, while at the same time strongly support measures for increasing taxes on the other.

Measure ‘A’ has the strong flavor of a Council wanting additional revenue, although supportive comments are weak to justify the need. Councils’ resolution mentions a fraction of the added revenue might be set aside for City projects, although this is a far cry from a Council commitment explaining how funds would be used; resolutions have no enforceable mechanism. Readers are urged to continue reading their ballot carefully to learn of several additional flaws in the proposition.

Speaking of surrounding cities I was surprised to learn, based on a simple Google search the stark difference between our current budget and that of Manhattan Beach. A rough comparison shows our budget is approximately twice that of Manhattan Beach, even though they likely have twice our population.

I hope this letter motivates you to demand that our elected officials do a better job … Continue reading →

Posted in California, El Segundo, El Segundo Election Coverage, El Segundo Herald Letters, El Segundo News, El Segundo Tax and Fee Increases, Elections, Letters to the Editor, Measure A - 5 New Taxes and 6 Tax Inceases, Politics, Tax Policy and Issues | Tagged April 8 2014 El Segundo General Municipal Election, El Segundo, El Segundo 2014 Measure A Tax Hikes, El Segundo Herald, Letter to the Editor, Manhattan Beach, Measure A, Richard J. Switz, taxes | Comments Off

Feels Measure “A” Too Important – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Scott Houston

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Mike

NOTE:

This letter to the El Segundo Herald newspaper is proof that Scott Houston supported the ELEVEN tax hikes in Measure A on the April 8, 2014 El Segundo General Municipal Electionu ballot.

Feels Measure “A” Too Important – Letter to the El Segundo Herald by Scott Houston

I wanted to stay quiet. But this conversation is too important not to participate in, speak up and urge every El Segundo voter to support Measure A. We’ve been down this road before and, once again, our City finds itself in a precarious financial situation. Even with the additional revenues gained from the Chevron tax settlement agreement, our City will be running significant deficits of nearly $6 million for the foreseeable future if we do not address our structural deficit. That is why I am supporting Measure A.

Our City Council has worked diligently to maintain our services with less. And our City employees have borne the brunt of cuts due to our financial state – in fact, there are now about 20% fewer employees at City Hall struggling to provide the same levels of service we are accustomed to. Something has to give. We cannot continue cutting our way out and decimating the community we love.

While not a panacea, I believe Measure A is a major step forward in the right direction to finally address our city’s ongoing budget crisis. Let’s work together as a community to give our next Council the resources needed to balance our city budget. Please vote Yes on Measure A on April 8.

– Scott Houston

NOTE BY MICHAEL D. ROBBINS:

The City of El Segundo’s taxpayers are probably paying about $8 million per year in excess compensation to the city’s firefighter and police “association” (union) members and their managers. That is a great sum of money for small-town El Segundo. The firefighter and police unions ratcheted up their total compensation (salaries, benefits, and employer-paid pension contributions) to wildly excessive and unsustainable levels by endorsing, contributing money to, and campaigning for the City Council candidates who would give them the largest pay, benefits, and pension increases, and raise taxes to pay for it all.

That is why El Segundo firefighters (and those of many other California cities) are paid about $150,000 to more than $330,000 in total compensation each per year. When the firefighter and police union members get large unjustifiable compensation increases, their managers get even larger increases to avoid “salary compaction”.

Scott Houston is a firefighter and police union puppet. He supports them and they support him. Houston supports Measure A on the April 8, 2014 El Segundo city election ballot to pay for past and future excessive and unsustainable firefighter and police union pay raises and the resulting pension increases. The current firefighter and police union contracts expire on September 30, 2014, and the City Council will negotiate new labor contracts with the unions later this year.

If the voters reject Measure A, the firefighter and police unions will have to give back some of the excessive increases they received as rewards supporting the campaigns of City Council candidates. There is a conflict of interest when government employee unions campaign to elect their own bosses who will negotiate with them and decide their pay raises and pension increases in secret meetings.

Scott Houston ran for El Segundo City Council twice – in April 2010 and April 2012. Each time the El Segundo Police Officers Association (union) gave him their endorsement, a huge cash campaign contribution, independent campaign expenditures, and additional campaign support. Houston lost both elections due to strong grassroots campaigns against him.

Scott Houston supported Measure P, the firefighter union’s initiative (4/10/12 election), which was defeated by 90.1 percent of El Segundo voters. It would have disbanded our local fire department and transferred our fire and paramedic services, and firefighters, to the Los Angeles County Fire Department for inferior services. It would have eliminated 31 percent of our on-duty firefighters, two paramedic squads and all three paramedic transport ambulances, doubling hospital transport times. But it would have protected the firefighters from much-needed pay cuts. … Continue reading →