San Fran City Employees' Pensions Higher than Average Workers' Earnings

When it comes to citizen pay and annual salaries earned, San Francisco has an interesting dynamic going on. On average, public retirees who have retired and are earning pensions are receiving higher pay than non-government residents who are currently in the workforce.

According to the San Francisco Employees' Retirement System, the average retiree earns a pension of $46,272 per year; retirees who have worked in city government for at least 30 years earn an average annual pension of $76,981.

The numbers tick even higher when looking at the Fire Departments' retirees, as the average pension is $108.552. Police walk away with $95,016.

On the flip side, regular (non-city government) San Franciscans don't quite do as well as their publicly-funded counterparts. Families, on average, earn $86,546 and per capita (per person) income is $44,373.

To provide some perspective, this means that the average pension for a government retiree is $46,272, while the average working income of a non-government individual is $44,373. Considering that pensions are a smaller percentage of overall income, this disparity is certainly noteworthy. Now, some heavy weights are taking action to try and make things a bit more equitable. The San Francisco Chronicle has more:

Public Defender Jeff Adachi is gathering signatures to place a measure on the November ballot that would require city workers to pay far more of their salaries toward pensions. Currently, most pay 7.5 percent of their paychecks, but some highly paid employees would pay double that in bad economic years under Adachi's plan.

"I think it's interesting that the average pension paid to a city employee is higher than the average earnings of most San Franciscans," he said. "When you start looking at the total cost of these pensions, it's through the roof."

Watch Adachi explain his plans to FOX News Business below:

Like other cities, San Francisco is under enormous pressure to brings its expenditures under control. Pensions, of course, account for a portion of the budget that must be contended with.

Do you agree with Adachi that government officials should pay a larger proportion toward their pensions?

(h/t The San Francisco Chronicle)