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Commentary contributed by Solana Beach resident Brian Brady
Solana Beach voters rejected business licensing fees and additional property taxes, when they voted against Proposition L this past June. With 57% of the voters rejecting the tax, one might conclude that the Solana Beach voters caught the anti-incumbent fever sweeping the nation, yet nobody filed to oppose the sitting Council members in the November election.
Apathy? Perhaps not. The late Nobel Prize-winning economist, Milton Friedman once said, "You make it politically profitable, for the wrong people, to do the right things."
The context of Friedman's message is that elected officials are in the business of keeping people happy. Friedman's yarn isn't a suggestion that the Solana Beach Council is comprised of the "wrong people" -- rather, it's an explanation for their decision to negotiate with the employees. The City of Solana Beach is the first in the County to make inroads towards pension reform with its employees:
"The city of Solana Beach is first (in San Diego county) to implement a new tier for all labor employees, and have all employees contributing a fair share toward pension plans," said Lani Lutar, CEO of the nonprofit San Diego County Taxpayers Association. "They absolutely deserve kudos and recognition for accomplishing this level of reform."
The Council should be commended for its approach to austerity. Still, as I said three months ago, it can do a lot more. The deal the Council cut still levies the lion's share of the employees' retirement plan contributions on the Solana Beach taxpayers:
Under a pension agreement with the city of Solana Beach, firefighters will pay 9 percent of their salary to the state pension fund, and the city will pay 32 percent of payroll, for a total of 41 percent contribution. Other employees will pay 8 percent of their salary to the pension, and the city will pay 14 percent of payroll, for a total pension fund contribution of 22 percent.
That's not enough. Private sector employers basically match employees Social Security contributions while the Solana Beach taxpayers are paying twice that amount for its employees. The Council is doing better than its counterparts but still has more work to do. Cutting contributions to be more in line with the private sector could save the taxpayers as much as $500,000 annually. We need to make it politically profitable for the sitting Council to continue austerity measures until we have a budget surplus.
We're on the road to prosperity; we just have to hit the gas a little harder. |
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