Fort Worth city council meets to discuss growing pension problem

Fort Worth is grappling with some very tough decisions on the city's employee pension plan.

The plan is running out of money. The easy fix would hurt retirees, but the city council and employees don't want to go down that route.

Solving Fort Worth's pension problem was never going to be easy.

“You owe people who are no longer here $2.1 billion,” said City Pension Consultant Paul Schrader. “You have $2.3 billion in your fund."

At a budget work session, the mayor said all options have to be considered. Police and fire say cutting the cost of living adjustment for retirees is not one of them.

“Hard working firefighters, hardworking police officers, someone who sacrificed 30 plus years for the city of Fort Worth and citizens. I don't see any way you can take away a benefit they're living on right now,” said Fort Worth Professional Firefighters President Michael Glynn.

The police association has concerns about the city's ability to recruit and keep new officers.

"If somebody is looking for a job in the department tomorrow or if I'm asking my friends to join the department, I want them to know the pension fund is stable and trusted,” said Manny Ramirez with the Fort Worth Police Officers Association.

The options include increasing contributions from employees and the city. But the city's consultants say that alone won't be enough, which then turns the focus on taxpayers.

Mayor Betsy Price says it will be a delicate balance.

"Really going to be a compromise and hybrid system of some sort,” she said. “You can't put every bit of the burden back on taxpayers nor can you take away all the benefits from retirees."

The final pension plan has to be voted on by city employees.

"When you talk about reducing the unfounded liability, you’re talking about taking away promises that you made,” Ramirez said. “Regardless of how sobering the conversation is, we wrote those checks. And as a municipality, we have to cash them."

Fort Worth has to agree on a pension plan by mid-September. Employees take their vote in November.

Without a solution, the state legislature could come in and fix the problem for them.