The Wyandotte herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1879-1943, 1939-01-20

| pension system could DE materially de
creased If, in addition to a minimum
service stipulated, there were added
one OF age While policemen and fire
men are generally considered to be en-.
gagged in a hazardous occupation there
seems TO be no valid reason why a
man cannot serve in either department
until he reaches The age of % or 60
Some idea of the variation in costs of
pensions may be had by an examina-
ton of the following table.
| Assuming an employee enters the ser
vice at % years of age, an annual con-
tributiOn from all sources to guarantee
him the pension stipulated in the or
dinance would be as follows:
Retirement at 80 after % years of
service, 21.1% of annual salary.
Retirement at 90 after 80 years of
service, 14.4% of annual salary.
Retirement at so after 80 years of
service, 1880 of annual salary.
Retirement at 60 after 40 years of
service, 7.1% of annual salary.
While 90 may be considered an adj
vanced age for active members of the
police or fire departments, retirement
before that age, unless the members
of the departments are willing TO con-
tribute more than 3%c of their annual
salaries, would be so costly to the tax
pa erS as to be almost prOhibitive If
6O were set as the minimum age for
re tirement with % years Of service, a
maximum age of % might be set as a
mandatory retirement age. with per
haps an additional five years by agree
xxyifh J1a
In addition to the figures presented
above, i would like to call the atten-
ton Of your honorable body TO several
sections of the proposed ordinance.
Section 4 prescribes that mo fire.
man or policeman shall be retired ex-
ctpt on his own application unless Civ
en- full opportunity to be heard in
opposition thereto" This clause de-
feats the real purpose of any pension
system. Pensions are granted to en-
p!Oyes as q reward for long and faith
full service. Pensions also serve as a
means TO prevent approximation in
service, by retirement. Unless a maxi
mum age for retirement be set, the
city may continue to be in the position
of penSiOning employees at full pay by
Particularly in fire and police work a
maximum age of retirement should be
set by the board.
Section provides for an increase of
pension to widows and children of de-
8Sed firemen who were on the pen
sion roll at the time of their death or
who were eligible for retirement at that
time 1t is difficult to justify such an
increase in the light of evident de-
creased expenses after the death. This
paragraph further preScribeS that pen
sions continue TO be paid to widows
during their lifetime or until they re-
marry. This clause will tend to in
crease costs materially in the event
that the wife of pensioner is e0nsid-
erably younger than the pensioned en-
proposed system one OF Insurance ra-
ther than pension.
Section shows the fiscal year be-.
ginning as of July / instead Of OctO-
Der 1.
The danger of enacting a pension
system so costly that it can not be
financed by the city Is greater to the
contributor than to the taxpayer A
man entering the service now may con-
tribute percentage OF his salary an
nually to fund only to find that when
lac Is ready to retire there is no money
in the fund and no prospects Of any.
In this connection, ii must be remem-
bered that most taxpayers can not
look forward to substantial pension
at any age and may be reluctant to
bear over 1870 of the costs. of financing
Ia system for public employees who are,
in addition, earning larger sums than
the average taxpayer.
1t is therefore In the interest Of the
prospective pensioner as well as the
taxpayer to establish a pension sys
tenn, whose cost can be and win be
met Anything short of this would be
the equivalent Of no system at all.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN s. RAE.
At q meeting Of the general pension
committee Of which City Clerk Law
renee J. IaCourse is chairman, sub
committee to study the question was
named as follows:
George G. Benin, John c. Kreger, w.
Hugh Williams, w. Leo Catalan, Hen
~ A. Girardin, George j. Gettleman,
Frank p. DARN, Oscar Hooks and
Thomas Norman. The committee, in
part, represents the different city de-
partments'w which it is proposed to pro-
vide with q pension system.
A meeting Of the committee was held
on Wednesday afternoon to discuss, If
possible. some system Of pensions that