Firehouse.com

About 75 retired police officers and firefighters rallied at Minneapolis City Hall on Friday to protest the city's attempts to cut their pension benefits, but they failed to engage city officials in a discussion of the issue.Pensioners clad in police and fire shirts and caps first crowded the City Council chambers, but a leader got out only a few words before he was stopped because the council normally takes public testimony only in committee.

The retirees next sought out Mayor R.T. Rybak, but after waiting 45 minutes, an aide repeated the council's position that a discussion was off limits because the matter is in litigation.

At issue is the city's attempt through a lawsuit to adjust how police and fire pensions are calculated for employees hired prior to mid-1980.

The city claims that the police and fire pension funds have been improperly adding fringe benefits to the base for calculating pensions, sticking the city's property taxpayers with an inflated pension bill. A judge hearing the issue has largely agreed with the city and is expected to make a final ruling on some disputed issues around the end of November.

Pension fund leaders have portrayed the city's legal effort as an attempt to break a deal and take money out of the pockets of retirees who put their lives on the line for the city, or their widows.

Larry Ward, a retired 28-year member of the Police Department and president of the Police Relief Association, said the pension matter is important and "they just wanted a fair hearing."

He argued that the city's lawsuit could have been settled, but for the city's lack of desire to do so.

"We just want the city to fulfill the contract," Ward said. "If the mayor treats the senior citizens of Minneapolis this way, how will he treat the senior citizens of Minnesota if he becomes governor?"

The court fight is the latest in a series of disagreements between the city and two pension boards representing retired and a few active police officers and firefighters who were hired before mid-1980.

If the city prevails on the method of calculating benefits, checks for firefighters would be cut by about 7 percent and a police pension would drop by about 14 percent, according to city officials.

According to pension fund documents, the average police pension was $47,467 in 2008, with survivors drawing an average of $26,818 annually. The average retired firefighter drew a pension of $43,553, while survivors drew an average of $24,150.

But because the city also is seeking refunds of past payments back to 2003, the potential losses to retirees could be much more severe. They do not collect Social Security.

Both funds are unusual in that they tie pensions not to how much an individual police officer or firefighter earned, but to the salary and some benefits of a top-grade officer or firefighter. That means that everyone from a career officer or firefighter to the chiefs get pensions based on the same salary.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service