02 May 2024
Detroit’s Extra Appropriation for City Pensioners is Warranted but Must Remain Limited
#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of Michigan podcastAbout
WWJ-Detroit anchor and reporter Ryan Wrecker chats with Citizens Research Council President Eric Lupher about Detroit’s four-year financial plan to send $10 million in supplementary payments to city pensioners.
Detroit cut benefits to pensioners as part of its bankruptcy settlement 10 years ago. Pension benefits, already modest pre-bankruptcy, have become meager in recent years due to inflation, and that has made life harder for pensioners.
Now that the city is a decade removed from bankruptcy and in much better financial condition, it plans to make up for some of what was done in bankruptcy.
Lupher explained that it was critical that this one-time appropriation for supplementary payments to pensioners, while warranted, should indeed remain one-time, and should not mark a return to “13th checks” that previously drained the city’s pension funds.
He cautioned that attempts to expand or restore benefits to pensioners would sacrifice the present and the future for the past, a choice Detroit can ill afford.
Detroit cut benefits to pensioners as part of its bankruptcy settlement 10 years ago. Pension benefits, already modest pre-bankruptcy, have become meager in recent years due to inflation, and that has made life harder for pensioners.
Now that the city is a decade removed from bankruptcy and in much better financial condition, it plans to make up for some of what was done in bankruptcy.
Lupher explained that it was critical that this one-time appropriation for supplementary payments to pensioners, while warranted, should indeed remain one-time, and should not mark a return to “13th checks” that previously drained the city’s pension funds.
He cautioned that attempts to expand or restore benefits to pensioners would sacrifice the present and the future for the past, a choice Detroit can ill afford.