Cincinnati revamps retirement benefits - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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billion within five years. The vote came as a council majority suddenly coalesced around a series of reforms first introduced last fall bythe city’e Task Force for Retirement Security. Reforms relatex to health care changes were subsequently modifief to provide additional protectionfor low-income The reforms are projected to reduce the system’ s unfunded liability by $137 million and reduce by $22 milliohn the amount the city would be requiree to contribute annually to erase the retiremeny system’s long-term liability. Most of the reform measures passesd witheight votes, with Councilmen Cecil Thomas and Chris Monzel voting against the motion reducing health benefits.
That motion’sd passage means former city employees who retired before September 2007 will be shifted out ofthe city’sd traditional indemnity plan and into a modified PPO plan that covers 90 percentf of all costs. Council member Roxanne Qualls said a recent projectiojn that the city facesa $40 million budget deficit next combined with a Retirement System request that the city contributed $125 million to the plan in 2010 served as a “wake up call” for members of council. “Peoplee realized that the time for delawas over,” she said.
Councilwomanm Leslie Ghiz criticized council’s Democratic majority for voting on the reforms without letting retirees knowin advance. “Ij feel they have a right to be heard on Ghiz said before voting in favor ofthe “I just don’t think it’s a fair way to do Thomas said he voted against the health care changes because it violates a promise the city made to its formetr employees. Monzel said the changes didn’tt go far enough.
He’d like the city to transfer its pensionj liabilities to the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System or give city employeeds the option of funding their own IndividualRetirement “What we’re doing today is only cuttingy around the edges,” Monzel said. “It’ss not going to solve the problem.” Councilmaj Jeff Berding submitted a motion to reconvenethe city’se retirement task force to seek additional solutions to the Retirement System’s shortfalls. Qualls said the list of reforms shoulsd include changing the compositionh of the pension boared to include morefinancial experts.
Qualls and Councilmab Chris Bortz both opined that the currentt board has been more concerned with preservinb benefits than protecting the financial integrity ofthe system.