Council's three newest members continued their "we care about issues" tour with a joint appearance at a roundtable event that has "made notable contributions to the study and ethical practice of land use." (Their Christmas party is probably awesome.)
Councilman Jones has a nice idea to build a transit line from Center City out to the zoo and other parts of Fairmount Park (I like).
Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez actually wants to tackle the fair/full valuation issue (the policy wonk in me likes, the homeowner of a South Philly home... no so much ;))
One thing in particular grabbed my attention:
Green said the city could save 10 percent to 20 percent on infrastructure costs in the long run if it addressed problems now, instead of waiting for roads to cave in or sewer lines to collapse. He suggested that the city should put $60 million to $125 million in savings realized by a planned pension bond into infrastructure, instead of conservative stocks or bonds.
The first part makes total sense to me. Fully fund infrastructure upkeep now using money from the operating budget rather than have to rebuild entire broken structures with the capital budget several years from now. It's like using your income to repair the leaky hole in your ceiling rather than waiting and having to take out a loan to rebuild your house when the roof collapses.
The second part escapes me. Hopefully Ben can chime in to illuminate me.
The city currently has pension obligations to current and future retirees. That number is x. Right now, in the pension fund the city has 52% of x, give or take. The city is proposing to borrow money to make up that other 48% (or so). All of the pension fund money is then invested with the goal of getting enough return on those investments so that the city doesn't have to spend additional taxpayer money (that is, in addition to what it contributes to each employees pension) to pay retirees. Right now, with the fund so chronically underfunded and because of a weak investment climate, it's not making enough of a return to cover those payouts. The city, therefore, has to step in to cover that shortfall - an amount that is only going to grow.
Add to that the fact that the city is also paying back - with interest - money that it borrowed in an attempt to cover the shortfall all at once back in the late 90s and the cost of pensions goes up.
When I first read the reporting of Councilman Green's idea, I thought, is he proposing that the city invest some proceeds from the new pension bond into infrastructure. But where would the return be?
Now, as I think my way through this, I'm beginning to get some clarity. If the city borrows money to close the pension obligation gap and if it invests the fund wisely and gets a decent return, it won't have to make the shortfall with yearly expenditures from the operating budget. That money could then be put towards addressing infrastructure and result in the long term savings envisioned by Councilman Green.
Does that seem right?
Fortunately, I get a lot more space to think these things through than a reporter and editor who have to fit the whole idea into a certain number of column inches. Also, the comment section lets you correct me if I don't have it 100% right. So have at it.
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