FOLIO
The vote on Mayor Lenny Curry’s fix for the long-suffering Pension Plan should be (drumroll, please): NO. For three decades, mayor after mayor and city council after city council have played fast and loose with putting in the city’s share of the pension for Duval County’s Police & Fire Pension Fund. When the Democrats were in charge, it was a given that the unions would be taken care of. After all, the firemen did the political signs for everyone they endorsed for office and the police put the bumper stickers on selected cars for those they endorsed for office (as long as you didn’t have an arrest record).
But when former prosecutor Ed Austin, then mayor, left the Democratic Party to become a Republican, the relationship with and view of the city’s unions began to change, becoming more in line with the national perspective. In essence, unions are bad for business, union workers are guaranteed a certain wage, they retire earlier than most folks, then find a way to make more money on the public dole. Today, a “retired” cop collecting a pension can go to work for the Duval County Public Schools’ Police Department.
But back to why it should be a “no” vote. First, the mayor’s proposal does nothing to fix the pension deficit owed by the city today. Extending the current sales tax beyond its expiration 2030 date merely assures city financiers that there will be revenue in future years.
Second, it does not state that the city will pay its share of the pension fund in the current fiscal year or the next. And what exactly is the city’s share of the pension fund? Curry’s not saying and only a select few city councilpersons can tell you.
Third, by attacking the amount of salary taken by the now-former pension fund executive director John Keane and the purported mismanagement of the fund by the pension board, a tailor-made scapegoat for why the city of Jacksonville should not pay its share (whatever that is) was put to the public. A public that knows next to nothing about it.
An underlying part of the pension reform plan would be to get rid of the guaranteed retirement plan for all future city employees, including police and fire personnel. If this plan is ultimately approved by the City Council, first responders would have little incentive to stay on the job unless that pension cut is coupled with a higher salary (unlikely).
A recent look at the mayor’s pension fund proposal by a Task Force created by Sheriff Mike Williams makes it clear that Jacksonville is in no danger of becoming another Detroit.
The central question is: “What are the advantages of the mayor’s plan for taxpayers and voters?” At this point, nothing. Will services be shut down in the coming year? Will the murder rate be reduced? Will Downtown development come to an end? Will the Shipyards be developed? Will fewer roads get paved?
By ignoring the right thing to do in favor of the conservative political principle of no new taxes, Mayor Curry rides the wave of his party. An ad valorem tax is in order. But it won’t happen on Curry’s watch.
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Matthews is a broadcaster, journalist and community volunteer who is a lifelong resident of Jacksonville.
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