Page 6 - Sanger Herald 4-26-18 E-edition

SANGER HERALD 6A THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018
Tuesday was School Bus Driver Appreciation Day
Photo submitted
Sanger school bus drivers, mechanics and support staff pose for a photo on their special day before enjoying a lunch prepared espcially for School Bus Driver Appreciation Day.
UNFUNDED:
Some cities will likely face insolvency while trying to find ways to pay their escalating unfunded liability bill to CalPERS.
Continued from page 1A
available to provide pensions to the membership based on actuarially calculated future benefit distribution."
In other words, an un- funded liability is a debt that is not covered by the value of assets, savings or investments that have been allocated to pay the debt.
What that means is that Sanger has a debt to CalP- ERS that is now more than $20 million in size, yet that debt is hardly ever men- tioned during the annual budgeting process and only this year finally began to get some attention from the city council.
CalPERS' unfunded li- ability is partly related to all the unfunded liabilities in all the cities in California, like Sanger, that have employees in the CalPERS benefits sys- tem.
Now CalPERS wants all those cities to make bigger payments, much bigger pay- ments, on the debts they owe to the huge government run trust fund.
No, private companies would never survive if they had a similar system.
It's a government thing.
Dan Walters wrote in a re- cent story in the Sacramento Bee that CalPERS "has only about 70 percent of the mon- ey it says is needed to cover pension obligations – and that assumes that its investments will return profits that many experts believe are unrealis- tic. CalPERS lost about $100
billion during the Great Re- cession a decade ago and has not fully recovered, while payouts to retirees grow due to demographic factors."
With that kind of burden CalPERS officials want their money due from the cities and, according to Walters, "have taken the attitude that making the fund actuarially healthy is their highest prior- ity."
Some cities will likely face insolvency while trying to find ways to pay their esca- lating unfunded liability bills to CalPERS.
It's already happened sev- eral times in California with cities like Stockton and San Bernardino.
Sanger is not in that bad of a shape, compared to many other cities, said Chapa. Its payment to CalPERS this fiscal year is in the $200,000 range said Watahira.
So, how much will the annual payments increase? Watahira showed the antici- pated payment schedule for the next seven fiscal years.
Watahira suggested the city council should consider investing in a "Section 115 Trust" to help meet the ris- ing cost of contributions to CalPERS and to protect the city in case of an economic downturn.
Watahira and Chapa said an increasing number of cities, public agencies and special districts are investi- gating the use of an Internal Revenue Code Section 115 trust to help them better manage the short-term costs and long-term liabilities as- sociated with pensions.
Watahira said the Section 115 invested money could be used as an emergency fund and to smooth cost increases over time.
In another serious matter the council dealt with at its April 19 meeting, a parade of military veterans and their supporters implored the
city to reconsider a decision by the city manager not to waive the fee for the com- munity center for this year's Marine Corps Ball.
In response, at the end
of the meeting, the council decided unanimously to put an item on the agenda for the next meeting which would allow them reconsider the waiver.
The multitude of com- ments in support of "Those Who Served," the group of Marine Corps veterans that organizes the Marine Corps Ball every Nov. 10, the birth- day of the Marine Corps,
were pretty well summed up in a passionate presenta- tion to the council by Anna Flores.
Anna Flores
"We The Committee of Those Who Served are here this evening to request a fee waiver for the rental of the community center. That's where we hold our annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball and Veteran’s Celebration that takes place every year on Nov. 10.
"The Committee of Those Who Served was started
by Marine Corps veterans who grew up in the Sanger/ Del Rey area. When they re- turned from their time in ser- vice they found comradeship in other Marines and service members. It was with this spirit that they decided to celebrate the Marine Corps birthday and all of Sanger’s men and women who served.
"The first celebration
was in 2005 with 60 guests. In 2017 we had 300 people in attendance. Many of our local men and women look forward to this event. "Every year a distin- guished guest has been hon- ored and these guests have represented every branch of service. It's similar to the banner program the City of Sanger supports.
"During our celebration we also honor a veteran or citizen who recently passed that supported or had been involved with our veteran’s celebration.
'The committee has been involved in supporting the communities of Sanger and Del Rey since its beginning.
"From 2005 to 2017 the committee has participated as a vendor in the Del Rey Christmas parade to raise money to donate to back to the community. We do not make a huge profit from this event but try to make it about coming together.
"From 2005-2007 we col- lected toys for Toys for Tots in our area and distributed to the toys to Time In Destiny Church and other agencies in the community.
"From 2005-2013 we gave bikes to the Del Rey after school program for the kids that did well in the program and we made personal dona- tions on behalf of the com- mittee.
"Beginning in 2013 we were able to make cash dona- tions to help the local schools. To date we have donated $5,000 to local schools, agen- cies and organizations to help them cover costs for various needs. Recent donations, just to mention a few, include the Sanger young Marines pro- gram, Centerville Elementa- ry and Del Rey Elementary. The Foundation for Sanger Schools also receives an annual donation from the committee. To date we have
given them $1500 dollars. "We currently have a
partnership with the Youth Centers of America to work together to provide funds to support students in achieving their goals in eduction. We use their non-profit status
to help keep our event costs down. All of our transac- tions are handled through a separate account with Youth Centers of America.
"In November of 2014, Ja- net Wilson, state commander of the American Legion attended our event. She was quoted in March of 2015 in the Fresno Bee saying, 'This event was instrumental in making the decision to move our state office to Sanger after being in San Francisco for 96 years.'
"The end goal of this cel- ebration is not for profit, it is to give back to the commu- nity that we came from. It’s to provide an opportunity for our older veterans to have one more evening with their band of brothers and sisters.
"If we have to pay fees for the community center it does not affect us. It raises the ticket price for the older couples that are on fixed incomes. It takes away from the money we can donate back to the kids of our com- munities.
"We are asking that you vote in favor of waiving the fees for the rental of the community center, for as long as this event runs in Sanger.
"This event has grown over the years and we have many veteran’s from the surrounding areas that look forward to this night of ca- maraderie."
The reporter can be contacted by email at sang- erherald@gmail.com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
Fiscal Year
Projected Increase
2018-19
$ 213,209.99
2019-20
406,592.04
2020-21
610,122.04
2021-22
889,022.04
2022-23
977,982.04
2023-24
1,211,022.04
2024-25
1,380,882.04
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Saturday, May 5, 2018
1st saturday of the Month hannibal house thrift store will be open froM 9aM to 1pM
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1501 “O” Street • Sanger • 875-0564
215915