The board that controls the city of San Diego’s pension fund could make a change Friday that would save the city millions of dollars on next year’s payment. San Diego is facing its largest pension payment ever.
San Diego could be hit with a required pension fund payment of more than $230 million next year. Last year the city paid just over $150 million into the fund.
David Wescoe, the retirement system’s administrator, says the system’s board will consider changing the way it estimates what the fund will be worth in the future.
“What it would do for the plan sponsor would be to reduce its annual required contribution for this year. And the plan sponsor would pay it over coming years,” he says.
Wescoe says a change could save the city $20 million to $30 million next year. Critics have said this is the same thing as deliberately underfunding the pension. Wescoe says it’s not the same situation as 2002, and the new plan will require the city to pay an appropriate amount into the pension fund over time.
