San Diego may be the city with the best climate in the world; however, its’ pension system has driven the city to near bankruptcy. John Moorlach, Orange County’s Treasurer-Tax Collector, wrote an op-ed piece in today’s Register about the parallels. It’s must reading for any resident of OC and, frankly, any Californian. (One-time registration required to read the article.)
Samuel Johnson put it well: Whatever you make, spend less. Mr. Moorlach believes that the Orange County Employees’ Retirement System is doing a better job than San Diego; however, with an unfunded liability of somewhere between $1 and $2 billion, problems lurk in the future.
I should point out that San Diego’s pension problems appear (allegedly) to also have causes from illegal activities by their pension oversight board—problems that do not exist in Orange County. As Mr. Moorlach put it, “…San Diego’s retirement board has been caught with its hand in the cookie jar….”
With the Democratic legislature following in lock-step with the labor unions, a Democratic governor could cause further problems through mandated larger benefits. All-in-all, this is a situation to watch in the future.