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In Omaha, Nebraska, a proposal from the Omaha Police Union recently handed over to the city would make cops eligible to retire with an annual pension just one percent less than their salary but on the condition that they work for 30 years. The Omaha Police Union is making the proposal to the city as part of ongoing contract negotiations.
The union’s offer covers everything from wage increases to health care, but it is the pension provisions that are getting the most attention.
"Shocked is an understatement when I saw the latest offer from the police union," Councilman Jim Vokal told the World Herald’s Karen Sloan in a recent interview. "It's way out of line. It's not the direction we should be going."
Both Omaha Police Union President Aaron Hanson and Human Resources Director Tom Marfisi declined to discuss the offer or the status of the contract talks.
Councilman Chuck Sigerson, who is also a member of the Police and Fire Pension Board, says he's disappointed in the union’s proposal because it would create too much of a financial burden for taxpayers.
Omaha's public safety pension system has been a source of controversy for several years because many police and firefighters have been able to retire with what critics consider to be “lucrative,” pensions.
Fiscal conservatives say that as a result of “spiking,” in which retiring police and firefighters boost their pensions by working large amounts of overtime and cashing in unused vacation and other compensatory time during their last years on the job, public safety pensions are out of whack.
They point out the fact that of the 176 police officers and firefighters who retired in Omaha last year, 54 are receiving higher pension payments than their base pay.
The police union's current offer has a two-tiered system for calculating pensions.
Current officers would be able to choose which option they want. Officers hired after the contract takes effect would have to take the new option. Under the new option, only base pay would count toward pensions. The proposal increases pension payment percentages for each year of service.
Every year you spend on the job is worth a 3.3 percent increase in your pension payment. That means an officer with 25 years in the department would have an annual pension that is 82.5 percent of his or her base pay, while someone with 30 years would get 99 percent.
The union's proposal also seeks to address the pension fund shortfall by boosting contributions into the fund based on how underfunded it is. For example, if the fund is funded at only 64 percent of its obligations, the city would have to pay an additional 5 percent into the fund, while officers would contribute an additional one percent. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites        
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