OC's Non-Pension Related Retiremen Unfunded Liability Down Almost $1 Billion Since 2006

Another Moorlach update wafted over the transom this morning. This one trailed along a PDF of an article from tdoay's "Bond Buyer" (I never miss an issue myself).

Here's what Supervisor John Moorlach had to say in reference to the article:

The Bond Buyer has a subscriber-only website.  Fortunately, the County has at least two subscriptions, so a PDF file was made of today’s article and is attached.  The key quote is as follows:

“County officials estimate that they have reduced its unfunded liability for non-pension related retirement benefits from about $1.4 billion at the beginning of 2006 to approximately $440 million, including the estimated $140 million in savings from the new contract with the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, approved Tuesday by the Orange County Board of Supervisors.”

Worded another way, subsequent to my election to the position of Supervisor the County has been able to reduce its Annual Required Contribution, mandated by GASB 45, from $131 million to some $41 million.  I was hoping to get it down a little lower, but reducing a $1.4 billion obligation by some $960 million is dramatic!  And reducing 30 years of payments by $90 million per year also adds up to a significant dollar savings.
 
It is critical to remember that one only receives a post-employment benefit if the employer is still there.  And the longer you wait to fix this problem, the bigger it becomes.  That’s why it has been so critical for all of the parties, the County, the employees and the retirees, to assist in protecting the long-term viability of our retiree medical programs.  This cooperation will have a major impact on our budget over the next three decades.
 
I did not attend our annual rating agency meetings in New York City last week, but the feedback I received is how pleased they were with Orange County’s progress.  We’re probably one of a few municipalities in the ehis area (after our sad episode thirteen years agontire nation that has committed to funding their full Annual Required Contribution.  It’s great to be thought of as a model for the rest of the country for fiscal prudence in this area (after our sad episode thirteen years ago)

Kudos to the Board of Supes -- and the public employee unions who have agreed to these reforms -- for their work in reducing these unfunded liabilities hanging over OC taxpayers heads.

Comments

[Tim]

Is it possible the County overestimated the unfunded pension liability last year to drum up support against the AOCDS? No...they wouldn't do that.

How much money is Moorlach and the OC BOS going to waste trying to take away the 3%@50 from the OC Deputy Sheriffs before they realize they are not going to win and they are just throwing money out the window?