Taxpayers in Los Angeles will see retirement costs for police officers and firefighters climb by 56% over the next four years, even after voters approved a March 2011 ballot measure that trimmed the pension benefits paid to new hires, according to projections released by city budget officials.

Pensions and retiree healthcare costs for sworn employees are projected to consume $789 million of the city's general fund budget in 2016, up from $506 million this year, according to figures prepared by budget analysts. Every dollar in the general fund that goes for retirement costs cannot be used for other expenditures, such as library books, park programs and police salaries.

The numbers were prepared for the city's labor negotiations committee, which consists of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and four City Council members. That panel met Tuesday to consider the mayor's plan for rolling back pensions for newly hired civilian employees, such as librarians, landscapers and street repair workers.

The changes, which include a bid to increase the retirement age to 67, would not apply to police and firefighters. City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana defended the current focus on civilian workers, saying L.A. leaders already have wrung savings from the public safety retirement system, thanks to last year's ballot measure.

"It wasn't that we picked one [group of employees] over the other," he said. "The mayor and the council directed us to address both the civilian and sworn pension systems. The difficulty is that we weren't able to reach a consensus with civilians."

When Villaraigosa took office in 2005, public safety retirement costs consumed 4.2% of the city's general fund. The number is expected to reach 11.1% this year and 15.6% by 2016, according to budget officials.

Santana said the increased costs for firefighters and police officers have been caused, in part, by the buildup of the force at the Police Department and the poor performance of the investment portfolio managed by the city's Fire and Police Pensions system. The city also has to pay more, he said, because the pension board recently lowered its investment assumptions in the wake of those losses, forcing the general fund to make up the difference.

Business leaders, along with former Mayor Richard Riordan, have been pressing Villaraigosa and the council to take new action on steadily rising pension costs, saying the growing retirement costs will force officials to cut additional services. Those cuts, they said, will drive businesses away, further cutting tax revenue and forcing the city into a financial tailspin.

The leaders submitted a proposal that would, among other things, freeze the pay of firefighters and police officers if retirement costs consume more than 25% of those employees' salaries.

Public safety unions have responded angrily to the proposal and to the projections released by Santana's office. Tyler Izen, president of the Police Protective League, questioned the accuracy of the numbers and said his members have already made sacrifices by giving up millions of dollars in overtime pay and taking time off instead.

More here:
Retirement costs will take a larger share of L.A. budget, estimates show