Quote:I just went back and re-read your initial post, and see where I had a first misunderstanding.  I didn't realize that the proposal was part of the Better Jacksonville Plan.

 

My answer to the poll is still NO because the Better Jacksonville Plan is legislation that has already been passed for a specific purpose.

 

The way that I see this issue is that there several problems here.

 

1.  Pensions should go away for city employees and replaced with individual retirement plans (if it hasn't been done already).  I don't mind if the city makes a contribution to said retirement plans the way a private employer does, but it must be reasonable and it must be a matching contribution.  In other words, put the responsibility of saving for retirement back into the hands of the employees.

 

2.  Pensions already promised need to be honored, and in this case it should be negotiated as to where the "cutoff" is going to be for current employees.  As an example, employees with less than 5 years of service would be converted to a 401k plan with perhaps a very small contribution to start it.  Employees with more than 5 years of service but less than 10 years would be converted to 401k's with a little bit larger contribution to start it, etc.  Employees over a certain number of years will still get their normal pension, anyone with less than that "magic number" of years would be converted.

 

3.  Current and future pensions that are owed must be paid for.  The first place that I would look for funding is to find the "waste".  Where could the budget be cut in order to raise revenue?  The second place that I would look would be for alternative sources of revenue.  Kottie presented a good idea regarding possibly slot machines at the dog track.  I kind of call this a "voluntary tax" because people don't have to gamble, but they will.  Just take a look at how much revenue comes in from the Lotto.  The next step would be a tax increase of some kind, and the very first increase (if necessary) should be in the form of sales tax.  This is the most "fair" to everybody that lives in Duval County and would also bring revenue in from people that may live in other counties but work and frequent Duval.  It also would generate revenue from visitors (think Jaguars games, etc.).

 

As far as 0.5%?  I don't know what the number should be but after taking the steps that I outlined above it might not even be necessary.

 

The sad fact of the matter is that most people count on something like SS because they are incapable of saving money themselves. If someone had control of their own retirement and could withdraw money at any point of their career, there are millions of irresponsible people who would do so without even thinking about life after retirement.

 

While I personally agree with you and would LOVE to invest for my own retirement, it sets a dangerous precedent. 

 

I kind of equate it to people who claim an inaccurate number of allowances on their taxes so they are guaranteed a larger tax return. The majority of these people don't realize the government is holding YOUR money, making interest off of it before returning it to its rightful owner.

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