Rybak Turns Up the Heat On Pension Reform In Community Meetings

Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak met with about 100 constituents in Burroughs Community School Wednesday in the first of a series of meetings partly designed to inspire citizens to pressure Minneapolis legislators to reform the city's increasingly costly closed pensions.

The pensions of Minneapolis Police Relief Association and the Minneapolis Firefighters’ Relief Association (which will be explained in detail in an article early next week by Southwest Minneapolis Patch) were closed in 1980. They will cost the city almost $15 million in 2011, according to the city's forecast. The mayor partly blamed the high cost of the pensions for property tax increases (the PDF of the presentation is available in a box to the right).

Rybak told the crowd that state lawmakers of both parties have been sympathetic to the city's desire to merge the pensions with the city's more economical current pension plan, but that the Minneapolis delegation hasn't taken action. “Most of the members of our delegation have not seen this as their jobs, this is job one of this legislative session,” Rybak told the audience. "I think there’s a possibility we can get this done if we can turn up the heat."

Some audience members, including Dave Sampsell, who is a member of a Minneapolis community group that's concerned about property taxes, questioned how the pensions situation has been allowed to persist since the 1970s. 

Council Member Betsy Hodges, who has championed pension reform at City Hall, explained that the conditions of the pension were written into state statute, and therefore needed to be adjusted by the legislature. The city is also embroiled in a court battle with the pension fund.

Linden Hills resident Sampsell said an email after the forum that he was impressed with Rybak's message and Hodges' commitment to the pensions issue. After the meeting, the community group posted a letter to their Facebook page asking residents to write their Minneapolis legislators in support of pension reform.

Some audience members inaccurately blamed the police and fire unions for the pensions, with some suggesting the city pursue limits similar to those being imposed on public service unions in Wisconsin.

After the meeting, Rybak told Southwest Minneapolis Patch that the distinctions between the unions and the legacy pension funds needs to be clear. We're talking about "pensions that have wrongfully been getting tens of millions more than they should," Rybak said. "That's an outrage, it needs immediate action."

This was the first in a series of community meetings planned around the city to address next year's budget and pension reform, Rybak said. "One of the things that's always tough about the budget is that you look at these issues and wonder how you're going to solve them until you realize you have a city filled with smart people and if you can put your ego in check and go into a room and listen, even when people are mad at you, you can learn a lot," Rybak said.

The next meeting on the 2012 budget and pension reform is Monday, Feb. 28 at Kenwood Recreation Center. Getting citizens to contact their legislators about the pension reforms is an important part of keeping property taxes down next year, Rybak said. "We've spent six years at the legislature trying to get more focused on this issue," Rybak said. "Even with the good legislators we have, I think all of them need to know how serious property taxes are and how much we need to get done in pension reform."