The Gravy Train

The San Diego Daily Transcript, filtered through sandiegobudget.org has a story about the City HR Director characterizing the City Pension System as a “Gravy Train”:

As reported in the San Diego Daily Transcript today Cathy Lexin, San Diego’s Human Resources Director, has aptly described the City’s pension benefits as a “gravy train.” Her characterization was made and emailed to Mayor Dick Murphy’s budget advisor Dennis Gibson—who, in the midst of Murphy’s re-election campaign, was busy figuring out how to maximize his own retirement benefits from the City. Gibson will ultimately achieve 95% of his salary for life.

In her response to Mr. Gibson’s request for tips on how to maximize his benefit, Ms. Lexin covers all the bases from buying years of service to counting on salary increases to enrolling in the notorious DROP program. At Gibson’s current salary of $120,708 he would earn $114,672 a year if he retired today at the formula calculated by Ms. Lexin. As his salary increases so will his net retirement earnings until he is 55 years of age.