Office of Borough President James P. Molinaro
Staten Island, New York
BP Molinaro: budget crisis heightens need for pension reform
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Borough President James P. Molinaro today once again expressed his strong support for pension reform, in the wake of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Fiscal Year 2013 Budget announcement.
“The expense of pensions is unsustainable,” Molinaro said. “I am standing up for Staten Island and supporting Governor Cuomo’s Tier 6 Pension plan as well as Mayor Bloomberg’s pension reform plan. The City of New York has gone from about $1 billion in pension costs in 2002 to an estimated $8 billion this upcoming year. That’s a 500% increase. We can’t support this rate of growth, and we simply cannot let out-of-control pension costs continue to threaten our worker’s future,” Molinaro said.
“No reasonable person can look at the current numbers and not see that there is a big problem here. It is obvious that a new pension tier, Tier 5, must be created for new City workers,” Molinaro said. “The numbers justify it. They’re not numbers being pulled out of a hat, they’re real, actual numbers. New tiers have been created before, with no adverse effects. I have employees in my office from different pension tiers, and it has never been a problem. No one talks about it. It’s a non-issue.”
“Ironically, the people who are fighting against pension reform are the ones that pension reform would protect,” Molinaro said. “It has been stated over and over, and I will say it again, that any pension reforms would only impact NEW government workers. And if those prospective workers don’t care for the pension plan, they do not have to work for the government.”
“It is in the best interest of ALL residents, and especially City workers who currently have pension plans, to support pension reforms in New York City and Albany. If you pay into a pension plan, don’t you want to know it’s going to be there when you retire? Unless we enact pension reforms, that guarantee simply cannot be made,” Molinaro said.
“Both Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo have been vocal in their efforts to reform our pension systems. I stand behind them 100%, and I urge Staten Islanders to do the same,” Molinaro concluded.
February 2, 2012