by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
JEA employees are worried about a recently introduced City Council bill that could add a decade to their careers.
While there are a few pension reform measures in proposed Ordinance 2011-165, introduced by Council member Bill Bishop, members of the Professional Employees Association who work for JEA are particularly worried about a phrase.
That phrase is “to provide for increasing the age for time service retirement to 65 years of age for general employees.”
Association President Chris Sharp presented concerns to the JEA board of directors at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday Downtown.
“We are scared to death,” said Sharp. “Having to work an additional decade to reach full retirement benefits isn’t something people signed on for. It’s a dangerous situation because the economy is slowly catching up and there are other opportunities for our members in the private sector,” he said.
The current retirement age is 55 for general employees. Members of the Professional Employees Association are considered general employees of the City and include analysis, engineering, accounting, technology and environmental positions.
“This bill is, for as much as I would like it to be effective immediately for everybody, a work in progress,” said Bishop, who was reached Tuesday afternoon and did not attend the meeting.
The ordinance isn’t subject only to the laws of the City of Jacksonville, so the legislative process is expected to take a little longer.
“It is subject to compliance with federal and state pension laws and collective bargaining agreements,” said Bishop. “We can’t unilaterally just do this across the board. It’s meant to be a starting point.”
Along with extending the normal retirement age, the ordinance would remove the opportunity for an elected official already collecting a City pension to continue to collect that pension while simultaneously taking a salary as an elected official of the City.
“With respect to JEA, when we did this bill, if JEA is part of the general employees pension plan, then that is something that hadn’t dawned on me and I wasn’t made aware of,” said Bishop.
“Most of the positions that are covered by the general employees pension fund have a private sector equivalence. The rationale for (the ordinance) was the old adage that public sector workers get paid less than their private sector counterparts, but make up for it in pension and benefits,” he said.
“That no longer applies in many cases. There have been studies that public sector work now pays more than comparable private sector work,” he said.
Though the ordinance includes a June 1, 2011, deadline for determining who would be subject to the new rules, there is work to be done before a final vote by the City Council could be considered.
“I can’t see how this is being considered without any actuarial studies whatsoever,” said Jim Dickenson, JEA managing director and CEO, Tuesday afternoon after the meeting.
“What are the effects of these changes? I haven’t seen a study to show the benefit of these changes. I acknowledge that pension reform is a real issue that is being considered at many different levels across the country. I just want to see the information that supports it,” said Dickenson.
The City’s municipal code requires that an actuarial study be conducted whenever there is a change to the pension program.
“Anything that affects the pension fund will have to have an actuarial study done to demonstrate the physical impact. That is in the works. I don’t know when it will be finished, but it is in the works,” said Bishop.
Ordinance 2011-165 was introduced March 8 and sent to the Rules and Finance committees.
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