September 25, 2013
ffl’c ^lortlanh OOhserucr
Page 15
m ber
SUNDAY
MONDAY
15
Robert McCloskey
bom, 1914
Make A Hat Day
National Hispanic
Heritage Month
ends October 15
16
Collect Rocks Day
National Play-Doh
Day
Mayflower Day
Mexican Indepen­
dence Day
22
First Day of Autumn
Good Neighbor Day
Dear Diary Day
U.S. Post Office
Opened In 1789.
TUESDAY
17 7
Citizenship Day
National Apple
Dumpling Day
Constitution Day. In
1787, the U.S.
23
First Toy Store
Opened
National Bluebird of
Happiness Day
Supreme Court
established in 1789.
WEDNESDAY THURSDAY
18 o
The Ne w Y ork Times
was first published in
1851
FRIDAY
19
International Talk Like
a Pirate Day
Slimey the Worm's
Birthday (Sesame
Street Character)
e
3
SATURDAY
20
First Railroad Station
Opened
Magellan started his
search for the Spice
Islands In 1519
24 25
Mary Poppins
Debuted in 1964
2013
21
World Gratitude Day
International Peace
Day
H.G. Wells bom, 1866
27 r
Johnny Appleseed
bom John Chapman,
in 1774.
California Native
American Day
Bernard Waber bom,
1924
Crush A Can Day
First Airport Opened
(1909)
William the Conqueroi
Invaded England,
1066
28
Stanley Berenstain
The U.S. Army was
established in 1789
Telly Monster's
Birthday (Sesame
Street Character)
Prudent Pension Fund or Secret Stash?
White spending millions on light rail expansion and hi-tech toys, TriMet w ants passengers to accept fare increases and
service cuts, and it w ants workers and their families to accept severe incom e reductions. Among the reasons given for these
drastic m easures is that the workers pension plan is not fully funded.
D O N 'T GET US WRONG - we want to make
sure our pensions are there when we retire. But,
right now, the numbers just don’t add up. TriMets
2013 audited financial report (just published)
indicates that the agency is taking an unnecessarily
extreme approach to pension funding?
• At $365 Million (as of 6/30/13), the fund is
up 16% over the year before.
• At $28 Million, payout to retirees is up only
10% over the year before.
• TriMet intends to continue increasing the
fund 16% annually; thus, in 2023 - ten
years from now, the amount in the fund
will total $1.6 Billion
• If annual payouts to retirees continue to
increase at 10% per year, only $70 Million
would be paid out to retirees in 2023.
•The potential difference: a $1.53 Billion
pension fund surplus in 2024 (The amount
may be even higher, as the pension fund has
been closed to new participants since August 1,
2012. As retirees die, which they do at a younger
age than the general population, the number of
pension checks issued will go down
’ Numbers are taken directly from TriMet s 2013
Audited Financial Report, page 20.
TriMet Transit Worker Pension Fund vs Pension Fund Payout
$2,500.0
2013-2023
~
$2,2053
$2,000.0
$1.898 7 ,
$1,1
°
$1,500.0
o c
2
$1,0000
$500.0
.53 Billion
Surplus
$365 8
5424 9
$4’ 3 5
$258
$28.2
$30 9
$33.9
$371
$407
$446
$48 9
$53.6
$58 7
$64 3
$70 5
$77.3
$847
2012
2013
2104
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
$3048
$3149
$23.1
2011
w—— ■------■
■------ ■------ ------- ■------ »------■------ ■
-♦ -S iz e of Pension Fund
■------ ■ -----■------ ■------ ■
-» -A m o u n t Paid Out in Pension
The chart - generated using TriMets own numbers - illustrates
how wide that gap between the fund and the payout is projected
to grow.
Seriously? We are willing to chance earthquakes and
bankruptcy if the other choice is a reduction in our families’
livelihood and more loss of services to our passengers!
When TriMet management was asked why there was such a rush
to fill the fund - at the expense of the passengers and workers -
the response was: “There might be an earthquake, and we’d lose
the payroll tax revenue: or TriMet might go bankrupt.”
The issue also leaves a big question in our minds and the
minds of our passengers: where is the surplus pension
money going to go?
LOOK FOR US
ON FACEBOOK
LET YOUR VOICE C O U N T!
Sincerely, Your Transit Workers
LEARN MORE AT
TRANSITVOICE.ORG