Mostly because of rising pension costs, Long Beach says it faces an estimated $7.5-million budget gap next year. Officials already are outlining cuts across the city, including million-dollar reductions in the police and fire departments.
Now a plan considered Tuesday by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System could raise those pension costs even higher, continuing to erode government services in Long Beach and in cities across the state.
Under the proposal, CalPERS would gradually move more of its $300-billion portfolio to safer investments that earn lower returns. As a result, investment income would provide less money for public pensions, and taxpayers would be expected to kick in substantially more.
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