Dr. Steven Frates in Victorville Daily Press
From an article in today’s Victorville Daily Press by Ryan Orr:
Costs of pension and healthcare obligations promised to California public employees are rising each year. It is a burden that many say is already out of control, and will likely fall in the laps of taxpayers.
The state’s pension share went from $160 million in 2000 to an estimated $2.6 billion in 2005. In California in 2006 there was about $5 billion in expenditures taken directly out of operating budgets to help pay for retirement healthcare for public employees, said Steven Frates of the Rose Institute of State and Local Government. “By 2019 we expect that number to reach $30 billion,” he said. “That’s more money than the state spends on public safety.”
San Bernardino County handles their own retirement pro- gram and doesn’t offer healthcare benefits for retirees, said San Bernardino Public Information Officer David Wert.(/blockquote>
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