PERS pulls at college purse
TUITION INCREASES DRAW ATTENTION TO THE COLLEGE’S BUDGET
BY IAN VAN ORDEN
MANAGING EDITOR .
A s the w in ter term at Clackam as
Com m unity College com es to an
end, discussions regarding a possible
increase in tuition that will impact
students attending the college in the
summer of 2019 continue. The college
has proposed a $7 increase in tuition
costs, bringing the total per credit
cost up Trom $100 to $107.
This.contihues a trend that began
over two decades ago, w ith tuition
continuing to skyrocket, now leading
to the cost of an average, four-credit
class equaling $428 before additional *
fees. Many students may wonder what
is causing this increase. The answer
may not-be a welcomed one.
According to information provided
at a C ollege Council m eetin g in
October of last year, one of the largest
contributing factors is the Oregon
Public Employees Retirement System,
or PERS, which provides retirement
and disability benefits to most public :
em ployees in the state of Oregon,
including much of the staff at CCC
and other collegés and universities.
PERS has been a topic of much
debate in recent years, w ith many .
criticizin g Governor Kate Brown’ s
handling ò f the topic throughout
last year’ s gubernatorial election and
beyond. According to reporting by
“ The Oregonian,” PERS payouts will
nearly double over the next 20 years.
A tten tion on public em p loyees’
b e n e fits have com e under the
m icroscope, as em ployees w h o ’ve.
retired from OHSU and University of
Oregon are earning six-digits a year
from the state retirement system.
For example, the top PERS ¿arner,
form er OHSU president Joseph E.
R obertson, retired in 2017 after
40 years of service; his retirem ent
b e n e fit is $913,000 every year,
according to the searchable database'
of PERS earners. (!
The third h igh est PERS earner,
forrner University of Oregon.football
coach Mike Bellotti, retired in 2010;
his state retirem en t b e n e fit is
$558,000 per year.
While CCC employees don’ t make
as much m oney as th ose h ig h -
profile earners, som e are leaving
Clackamas Print
the college m aking six figures in
retirem ent. Former CCC president
Joanne Truesdell, who retired in 2017,
is earning $145,000 a year, or $12,000
a month.
A ccordin g to Greg Chaim ov, a
member of CCC’ s board of education,
PERS benefits cost the college about 25
to 30 percent on top of an emplpyee’ s
salary throughout their career. The
amount paid out by the college is also
increasing much fa ster than other
b en efits due to a variety o f issues
dating back nearly 40 years.
“ In the very early 1980s,” Chaimov
said , " th e r e w as an econ om icj
downturn. Public employees hadn’t
had raises in a while. The legislature
didn’ t have the funds then to provide
wages, so the legislature said, okay, we
will provide much better retirement!
ben efits then we have right now,
instead of giving you salary. So, in
essence, they kicked the can down
the road.”
According to Chaimov, the 90s saw
a high profit on PERS investm ents.
Though the college and other ¡public
institutions were required to place 8
percent of what was made every year
into the em ployee’s accounts, due
to the h ig h profit, they placed extra,
equaling the extra profit. During this
time, PERS was making well into the
double digits.
“ So, th e r e la tiv e ly gen ero u s
retirem ent benefits for people who
were employed in the mid 90s went
way u p,” Chaim ov said. “ Then we
hit a period of time in which PERS
was earning substantially less than
the 8 percent they were supposed to
increase everybody's accounts. Well,
if they aren’ t making: the 8 percent,
and they weren’ t putting money away
while they'were making more than
the 8 percent, then the money has
to come from someplace, and that’ s
the em ployees.” |
Chaimov also said that this trend
has n ever stopped. The co llege
continues to make up the difference,
placing an additional financial burden
in addition to the other m onetary
costs placed upon the college.
According to Chaimov, a number
of options are being discussed to
alleviate this cost.
“ The one th a tj’ve heard most talked
about, which is most controversial,”
Chaimov said, "is taking money from
the state accident insurance fund,
the pot of money that is used to pay
for workers’ benefits when they are
injured. What the state would propose
to do is if a local government, and I
would hope we would count as one Of
these, if they end up doing this, pays
a certain amount into PERS, the state
would match some part of that.”
Chaimov described funding for the
school as a three-legged stool. The
parts include property taxes, tuition
and state funding, with the only other
option being to cut staff.
“ We are doing our best to try and
get the state to give us more money,
so we don’t have to cut staff ,and raise
tuition,” Chaimov said, “but those
are really are only options if the state
doesn’ t provide the level of funding
necessary for us to do what we do.”
Dave Hunt, another member of the
board of education, placed much of the
blame for tuition increases on Oregon
Ballot Measure 5.
“ Back in 1990, it did a couple of
things,” Hunt said. “ One, it reduced
property taxes, and then ito p p e d the
growth of property taxes at no more
than 3 percent per year. If inflation
goes up more than 3 percent, too bad.
Property taxps can’ t go up more than
3 percent. If the number of Oregonians
com ing into the state increase,
therefore requiring more schools,
more public services, more community
colleges, more health care, more public
safety, too bad. Property taxes can’t go
up more than 3 percent.”
Hunt mentioned two other measures,
ballot m easure 47 and 50 w hich
continued to exasperate this issue.
“ Up u n til th e n ,” Hunt said,
“ community colleges had been getting
roughly two-thirds of funding from the
state. So, a combination of property
taxes and income taxes. And only
one-third of that had to be made up
by tuition. Fast forward 30 years,,and
now if you look at thelatest numbers,
less than one-third of our funding
comes from the state, and therefore
the other two-thirds have to be made
up by tuition.”
-Increasing corporate taxes could
be a way to make up the difference,
said Hunt. With an increase in large
bu sin esses bringin g busin ess to
Oregon, the state could look to them
to supplement the education fund.
Hunt did acknowledge that increasing
corporate taxes could discourage
companies from coming to the state
in the first place, but also noted that
Oregon currently has one of the lowest
tax rates, and increasing it by even
p small amount could make a large
'difference.
Like Chaimov, Hunt also suggested
Greg Chaimov, left, and Dave Hunt, right, both serve on the CCC board
of education. Chaimov is an attorney and former board president of the
Clackamas County Vector Control District, while Hunt is a former Oregon
legislator, having served as both speaker and Democratic majority leader.