A.G. Gancarski
Another one in an informal series of epistles from Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry to Jacksonville employees went out Friday: this on the pension tax.
Curry updated employees on his trip to Tallahassee earlier in January:
“Last week,” wrote Curry, “I traveled to Tallahassee to meet with state Senators and Representatives about a proposed solution for the city’s three public pension plans (Police & Fire, General Employees and Corrections Officers). I stressed to them that our pension debt represents the greatest risk to our city’s future. Jacksonville is ranked among the worst in the state for pension liabilities. Out of more than 400 cities and counties throughout Florida, we own 25 percent of the total unfunded pension debt.”
Curry then pivoted to saying why that mattered, saying that the unfunded pension debt crowds out other civic priorities, precluding “significant investments that could be made in critical service areas, such as additional police officers, improved roads, and neighborhood garbage services. The bottom line is this, if we don’t solve pension, we could face a financial crisis similar to Detroit.”
The Detroit talking point is not new to this email; it has been a refrain of Mayor Curry’s throughout this process.
“My plan, as presented to the City Council Finance Committee (watch the presentation online), asks the state legislature to grant the City the authority to continue the already approved and established surtax beyond 2030 to address unfunded pension liabilities. Let me be clear, this proposal does not add any additional burdens to citizens or employees. In fact, by solving the unfunded liability problem, we make it possible for the city to honor the benefits earned by current employees,” Curry writes.
Left out: the mechanics of the deal, which could include borrowing money before the sunset of the Better Jacksonville Plan to service debt incurred by the city to address the unfunded liability sooner than the BJP’s sunset in the next 14 years or less.
Curry reiterates his claim that the proposed solution “does not increase the burden on taxpayers” and keeps his campaign promise to solve the unfunded liability burden “while empowering us to resolve this long-term challenge that is restricting our investments in public safety, youth services, neighborhoods and economic development.”
Curry’s first email to city employees addressed “little fiscal leadership or budget discipline” in the previous administration. Clearly, this email, almost seven months later, is intended to provide that kind of leadership.
