With the city’s pension costs about to explode, only one of the four Democratic candidates running for city comptroller was willing yesterday to consider reducing retirement benefits for future workers.
City Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn) said that as a “last resort” the city should push Albany to impose a lower retirement tier, even over the objections of municipal unions.
“I don’t think you can take it off the table because we have a structural budget gap that we have to close,” Yassky said during a debate sponsored by Crain’s New York Business in midtown.
Each of Yassky’s rivals — Melinda Katz, John Liu and David Weprin –adopted the unions’ position that any reduction should be negotiated.
“When you put everyone in the room and you negotiate, they may be bloody when they get out of there but you know you’re going to get a deal that’s better for the city of New York,” claimed Katz.
But except for the teachers union, none of the other municipal unions has been willing to budge on pensions.
The state Financial Control Board reported yesterday that the city’s pension bill is expected to jump from $6.7 billion this year to $7.6 billion in fiscal 2013, consuming 11 percent of the entire city budget.