PRESTOPUNDIT -- "Kerry in Cambodia" Wall-to-Wall Coverage

Theives with badges. California Insider on some of the government union workers who begin collecting pensions at the age of 50 at no less than 90% pay. Small wonder that we are now bankrupt.

LA County Sheriff Lee Baca was among those on hand Thursday to fete Gov. Schwarzenegger for unilaterally sending money to cities and counties to avert law enforcement layoffs threatened by the governor's recent rollback of the car tax. Coincidentally, an audit released yesterday of Baca's department showed that payroll costs increased by one-third and retirement costs tripled in the five-year period ending in 2002. The story is here, in the Daily News. An excerpt:

The audit, by Torrance-based Thompson, Cobb, Bazilo & Associates, found expenditures increased by $473 million during that period, from $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion, driven mainly by a 46 percent increase in salary and employee benefits, from $913 million to $1.3 billion.

The audit found retirement benefits jumped from $46 million to $143 million, employee benefits rose 184 percent, from $8 million to $22 million, overtime spiked 39 percent, from $67 million to $94 million and workers' compensation costs rose 82 percent, from $46 million to $84 million.

In 1996-97, the average retirement benefit cost was $3,559 per employee. That had jumped to $9,631 by 2001-02. Likewise, in 1996-97, an average of $13,346 was paid per workers' compensation claim. That soared to $21,260 per claim in 2001-02.

Posted by Greg Ransom | TrackBack