San Diego Measure Would Funnel Pension Savings to Infrastructure Projects

San Diego officials have been tossing around several ideas for how to spend extra money resulting from smaller-than-projected pension contributions.

The latest idea: put the pension savings in a fund to be spent on the city’s infrastructure projects.

From the San Diego Union Tribune:

A new proposal would address San Diego’s crumbling infrastructure by requiring city leaders to devote future growth in sales tax revenue and all pension savings to the problem over the next 30 years.

[…]

The ballot measure would […] amend the city charter to earmark for infrastructure all future pension savings, which are expected to start sharply increasing 15 years from now as reforms kick in.

Kersey estimates this policy change would generate about $1 billion for infrastructure over the next 30 years, without any tax increases.

“This is new money to the general fund because it’s money we won’t be spending on pension obligations,” he said.

Pension savings are projected to be somewhere between $10 million and $15 million per year through the late 2020s. But that’s expected to climb significantly when Proposition B and other recent pension reforms take full effect.

For example, a projected $172 million in pension savings would go toward infrastructure in fiscal 2029 because the city’s annual pension payment is expected to drop to $83 million.

This is a ballot measure, so voters would have to approve it with a simple majority.

Photo by Elektra Grey Photography via Flickr CC LIcense