By Claudia Vargas

– City Controller Alan Butkovitz thinks he has a solution for Philadelphia’s staggeringly underfunded pension fund: buyouts.

Butkovitz is proposing that the city offer up-front cash payments to retirees, who, if they took the option, would surrender their lifelong pensions.

The payments would represent only a portion – say, 50 percent – of what a retiree could expect to receive over a lifetime. Still, a fair number of retirees might be enticed by the prospect of a cash windfall they could invest on their own, Butkovitz said.

“This would give people the opportunity to start a business,” he said. “Or do something that could potentially change their life and provide financial security long-term. And, of course, they could convert it into an annuity.”

Such buyouts could benefit the city by dramatically reducing the pension fund’s overall liability. The fund is $5.7 billion short of its $11 billion obligation to city workers’ pensions.

“There’s a persistent concern in the city about getting control of pension costs and a lot of things have been tried that were nibbling around the edges,” Butkovitz said. “So, it seems like the environment is ripe for ideas that would actually result in significant savings.”

Finance director Rob Dubow is intrigued by the buyout concept.

“It’s an interesting idea that deserves further examination,” he said.

While not yet adopted anywhere, public-pension buyouts are gaining attention nationwide as cities and states grapple with growing pension deficits.

Illinois lawmakers, for instance, are considering lump-sum payouts to solve their state’s pension crisis. Nashville considered a buyout program last year, but ultimately decided against it.

“People are looking for different solutions,” said Greg Mennis, director of the public sector retirement systems project at Pew Charitable Trusts.

He acknowledged that government buyout programs face high hurdles.

“It’s complex,” he said, ” . . . striking a balance between boosting the city’s finances and maintaining workers’ security. The outcomes are so uncertain.”

Butkovitz is proposing that the city offer buyouts to 31,000 city retirees and 2,500 active employees who are covered by the city’s oldest and costliest pension plan, referred to as Plan 67. The city’s actuary is preparing an analysis to determine the savings and cost of a buyout.

Illinois lawmakers, for instance, are considering lump-sum payouts to solve their state’s pension crisis. Nashville considered a buyout program last year, but ultimately decided against it.

“People are looking for different solutions,” said Greg Mennis, director of the public sector retirement systems project at Pew Charitable Trusts.

He acknowledged that government buyout programs face high hurdles.

“It’s complex,” he said, ” . . . striking a balance between boosting the city’s finances and maintaining workers’ security. The outcomes are so uncertain.”

Butkovitz is proposing that the city offer buyouts to 31,000 city retirees and 2,500 active employees who are covered by the city’s oldest and costliest pension plan, referred to as Plan 67. The city’s actuary is preparing an analysis to determine the savings and cost of a buyout.

City Council would need to approve any buyout.

At the moment, Butkovitz has no recommendation as to what the buyout percentage should be. “My hunch is that it would be worthwhile if even one person took it, but I need to see that statistically tested,” Butkovitz said.

A preliminary run of numbers presented during the Feb. 25 pension board meeting showed that if every past and present employee covered under Plan 67 took a 50 percent buyout, it could reduce the city’s liability by $3.7 billion.

There is still the question of how to pay for the buyouts.

Taking the cash from the city’s current pension assets would severely drain the fund, city actuary Ken Kent said at last month’s pension board meeting.

Butkovitz is suggesting that the city sell bonds to cover the buyouts. The debt service on those bonds would reduce the benefit of the program.

Butkovitz wants to target retirees covered by Plan 67 because it represents $5 billion of the fund’s $5.7 billion shortfall. Its terms are particularly generous.

The plan covers police and fire employees hired before 1988, union-represented municipal employees hired before 1992, and nonunionized employees hired before 1987.

Police officers and firefighters covered by the plan can retire at 45 with a full lifetime pension. Other municipal employees can retire at 55.

Police and fire employees can receive up to 100 percent of their final highest salary. Municipal employees can receive up to 80 percent of the average of their three highest salaries.

Source – http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20160307_A_plan_to_help_the_city_s_pension_woes__buyouts.html

Proposal: city workers surrender pensions, get cash buyout

– City Controller Alan Butkovitz thinks he has a solution for Philadelphia’s staggeringly underfunded pension fund: buyouts.

Butkovitz is proposing that the city offer up-front cash payments to retirees, who, if they took the option, would surrender their lifelong pensions.

The payments would represent only a portion – say, 50 percent – of what a retiree could expect to receive over a lifetime. Still, a fair number of retirees might be enticed by the prospect of a cash windfall they could invest on their own, Butkovitz said.

“This would give people the opportunity to start a business,” he said. “Or do something that could potentially change their life and provide financial security long-term. And, of course, they could convert it into an annuity.”

Such buyouts could benefit the city by dramatically reducing the pension fund’s overall liability. The fund is $5.7 billion short of its $11 billion obligation to city workers’ pensions.

“There’s a persistent concern in the city about getting control of pension costs and a lot of things have been tried that were nibbling around the edges,” Butkovitz said. “So, it seems like the environment is ripe for ideas that would actually result in significant savings.”

Finance director Rob Dubow is intrigued by the buyout concept.

“It’s an interesting idea that deserves further examination,” he said.

While not yet adopted anywhere, public-pension buyouts are gaining attention nationwide as cities and states grapple with growing pension deficits.

Illinois lawmakers, for instance, are considering lump-sum payouts to solve their state’s pension crisis. Nashville considered a buyout program last year, but ultimately decided against it.

“People are looking for different solutions,” said Greg Mennis, director of the public sector retirement systems project at Pew Charitable Trusts.

He acknowledged that government buyout programs face high hurdles.

“It’s complex,” he said, ” . . . striking a balance between boosting the city’s finances and maintaining workers’ security. The outcomes are so uncertain.”

Butkovitz is proposing that the city offer buyouts to 31,000 city retirees and 2,500 active employees who are covered by the city’s oldest and costliest pension plan, referred to as Plan 67. The city’s actuary is preparing an analysis to determine the savings and cost of a buyout.

Illinois lawmakers, for instance, are considering lump-sum payouts to solve their state’s pension crisis. Nashville considered a buyout program last year, but ultimately decided against it.

“People are looking for different solutions,” said Greg Mennis, director of the public sector retirement systems project at Pew Charitable Trusts.

He acknowledged that government buyout programs face high hurdles.

“It’s complex,” he said, ” . . . striking a balance between boosting the city’s finances and maintaining workers’ security. The outcomes are so uncertain.”

Butkovitz is proposing that the city offer buyouts to 31,000 city retirees and 2,500 active employees who are covered by the city’s oldest and costliest pension plan, referred to as Plan 67. The city’s actuary is preparing an analysis to determine the savings and cost of a buyout.

City Council would need to approve any buyout.

At the moment, Butkovitz has no recommendation as to what the buyout percentage should be. “My hunch is that it would be worthwhile if even one person took it, but I need to see that statistically tested,” Butkovitz said.

A preliminary run of numbers presented during the Feb. 25 pension board meeting showed that if every past and present employee covered under Plan 67 took a 50 percent buyout, it could reduce the city’s liability by $3.7 billion.

There is still the question of how to pay for the buyouts.

Taking the cash from the city’s current pension assets would severely drain the fund, city actuary Ken Kent said at last month’s pension board meeting.

Butkovitz is suggesting that the city sell bonds to cover the buyouts. The debt service on those bonds would reduce the benefit of the program.

Butkovitz wants to target retirees covered by Plan 67 because it represents $5 billion of the fund’s $5.7 billion shortfall. Its terms are particularly generous.

The plan covers police and fire employees hired before 1988, union-represented municipal employees hired before 1992, and nonunionized employees hired before 1987.

Police officers and firefighters covered by the plan can retire at 45 with a full lifetime pension. Other municipal employees can retire at 55.

Police and fire employees can receive up to 100 percent of their final highest salary. Municipal employees can receive up to 80 percent of the average of their three highest salaries.

Source – http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20160307_A_plan_to_help_the_city_s_pension_woes__buyouts.html

By Jane M. Von Bergen

– Angelo R. Perryman was a 32-year-old African American working in construction in Detroit when contractors building the Convention Center tapped him for a key job in the early 1990s.

As part of a mandate for minority business participation in building the center, Perryman was put in charge of repairing and building the Reading Terminal part of the center, on top of the Reading Terminal Market.

It was a career-building experience.

Now, his company, Perryman Building & Construction Services Inc., has been tapped for another important job: overseeing construction operations at the Wells Fargo Center before, during, and after the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

“We’re accustomed to grabbing a hot potato and running with it,” said Perryman, now 56, of Cherry Hill, and president of the Center City company his father founded in 1961 in Evergreen, Ala.

The “hot potato” refers to the timeline – building a huge, high-profile complex within the Wells Fargo arena by July. The structure has to accommodate not only the presidential candidates, but hordes of journalists and dignitaries as well.

It also refers to the lack of a precise plan for the job, even though the convention is less than five months away.

How big the job is isn’t clear.

“The budget depends on the scope of work, and we can’t give an estimate until we know more about the final work to be done,” said Travis Dredd, the party’s deputy chief executive for convention complex management

Perryman’s company, with about 17 employees, is managing the LOVE Park reconstruction, he said. The company also worked on the expansion of the Convention Center. It renovated the cheetah habitat at the Philadelphia Zoo, installed seating at Lincoln Financial Field, and refurbished Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia offices in the Wanamaker Building.

Perryman’s advocacy for minority businesses, especially in construction, earned him tickets to President Obama’s inauguration in 2009.

Perryman’s company “is known not only for quality construction work, but also for being a leader in the community,” Leah D. Daughtry, chief executive of the Democratic National Convention Committee, said in a statement.

Perryman will report to Hargrove Inc., a Washington-based convention management company that has been named the event general contractor.

Hargrove will oversee every physical aspect of the convention, including, for example, the letting of bids for tents and temporary structures that will create a tent city in stadium parking lots.

Perryman will be responsible for choosing subcontractors – for such tasks as installing floors, building bleachers, and constructing a stage – from a list of Philadelphia companies who have signed up on the Democratic National Convention Committee’s supplier list. Hargrove must approve Perryman’s picks.

Perryman must encourage businesses that use union labor and those that are owned by minorities, females, veterans, disabled people, and those in the lesbian, gay, and transgender community to bid for jobs.

Source – http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20160305_Minority-owned_contractor_gets_big_job_for_Democrats.html

By Joseph N. DiStefano

Mayor Kenney joined business groups, construction and janitors’ union leaders, and state legislators from both parties Friday to endorse a tax-reform plan backed by Center City’s biggest office landlord.