It is not an easy job sitting in the seat of governance trying to make the right decision to keep your government in the black, and regardless of your take on their current action regarding retiree benefits; they are to be commended for acting.
Editorial: Reality with retirees
County supervisors admit financial limits
Published 12:00 am PDT Monday, May 21, 2007
For the first time, Sacramento County's Board of Supervisors has taken a step toward resolving the long-standing budget problem caused by its health benefit for retirees. It wasn't the boldest of steps, but it was better than nothing.
The problem with the county subsidizing the health care of retirees (this is not unusual for government) is that the county hasn't set aside a penny for this purpose. It isn't officially a benefit. The thousands of retirees didn't set aside money from their paychecks to underwrite this benefit. Nor did the county. Instead, supervisors have been shifting monies from basic county services (sheriff patrols and the like) to fund this extra benefit. That is the worst kind of financial behavior.
