Politics & Government
Residents to Council: Fix the Pension
Several people — most retired town employees — urged the Legislative Council to fully fund the pension fund.
For most who spoke at the budget hearing Thursday on the town side of Mayor Scott Jackson's proposed 2013-14 budget, there was one subject of concern: the pension fund.
And most of those who spoke had a vested interest in the fund because they are retired town workers who rely on the fund for their income.
"There are a lot of men and women here who chose to serve the town," said retired police officer Anthony Mase, "and when we were serving, we had to make the tough decisions. We chose to do that and you expected that of us.
"You, ladies and gentlemen, chose to serve the town of Hamden — you asked for that, and you have to make the tough decisions like we did," he said. "You are the fiscal authority, and we ask that you do that — we are asking you to do the right thing and to not put it off for another year. You can force hands here."
The fund, currently only 14 percent funded, is "a dying fund," said retired police officer Bob Maturo, president of the Hamden Guardian Services Retiree Association. The town paid $80,000 for a study that recommended a $27 million contribution to the fund this year, he said, but Jackson is recommending only $12.5 million.
"We paid $80,000 for a study and we are disregarding it," he said. "This is a bomb that is ticking, it's an 800 pound gorilla that is just getting worse, and we deserve better than that."
From 1980 to 2000, when he sat on the Retirement Board, retired firefighter Bob Anthony said he sent a letter to the council recommending that it make the recommended contribution to the pension fund.
"And here we are, broke," he said.
In the more than 25 years he served on the Hamden Fire Department, he didn't pay a penny into Social Security, so he is completely reliant on the pension fund, Anthony said.
"You all have Segal's report and you all know what it says," he told the council, referring to the study that recommended the $27 million contribution. "I'm a little disheartened that the mayor's budget didn't come close to that $27 million.
"We need to bite the bullet and get this done," he said.
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