Grand jury gets last laugh on ‘shadowy’ pension costs

“Governmental costs for funding pensions for each employee should be brought out of the shadows and made transparent,” the grand jury declared. “These costs should be reported by each Orange County government on its website as part of employee compensation cost reporting.”

Why? Because these costs are steep. On top of the pay and benefits publicly reported for each employee, Orange County local governments kick in another 9 percent to 28 percent into retirement accounts for general workers; and another 20 percent to 48 percent for public safety workers. (Translation: The policeman earning, say, $100,000 a year, can cost a city another $48,000 each year in required pension contributions. Joe Citizen won’t find that extra $48K called out in most public compensation reports.)

Which is to say, what the Orange County grand jury has been clamoring for locally will become the law of the land not just in Orange County — but all over California, for everything from the mighty state government in Sacramento to the tiniest water district in Alpine County.

Joe Citizen will finally be able to see the numbers. The extra $48K paid for the policeman we referenced above will be listed, plain and simple.

Read more: http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2012/10/08/grand-jury-gets-last-laugh-on-shadowy-pension-costs/162930/