Double dipping
Edmonton spends $4.4M on second pensions, report reveals
The City of Edmonton is spending $4.4 million to provide another pension for some city employees such as the city manager, according to a recent think-tank report.
Secondstreet.org looked at 11 Canadian cities, including Edmonton and Calgary, to see how many provided double pensions to municipal employees. According to the report, Edmonton provides two public sector pensions and two supplementary plans/retirement plans called Firefighter Supplemental Pension Plan (FFSPP) and Supplemental Management Retirement Plan (SMRP).
FFSPP is for union firefighters and SMRP is for branch managers, deputy city managers and the city manager only. Nearly 1,290 employees in 2018 were set to receive a second pension.
The city employs about 14,000 people.
Edmonton is outshined by Calgary, however, as that municipality offers three pensions and contributes $10.9 million.
In comparison, Canada’s largest city, Toronto, spent just over $801,000 on a second pension for 375 eligible employees.
Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson said he wanted to look over the report before commenting.
“I can’t give you a first reaction but the suspicion that I’d want to test is that it has to do with supplemental executive pension plans,” he said.
“When someone retires from regular public service with a full pension but is still working for the city in an executive capacity, they have a supplemental executive pension plan. It usually has to do with seniority, I think, but I would want to verify that.”
Meanwhile, Coun. Jon Dziadyk has another idea involving pensions that could save Edmonton some cash.
Earlier this month, the province launched a panel to look at ideas to elevate Alberta’s autonomy following growing frustration with Ottawa. One of those ideas is to withdraw Alberta’s multibillion-dollar share from the $400-billion Canada Pension Plan. The panel is expected to give its report in March and is accepting submissions.
Dziadyk wants the city to prepare a memo looking at what withdrawing from the CPP would mean for Edmonton’s coffers. The memo would then be submitted to the panel.
In his motion, which he plans to put forward at Tuesday’s city council meeting, Dziadyk mentions a report by the Alberta Investment Management Corp. that suggests employer contribution rates could fall from base plan levels of 9.9 per cent to 7.21 per cent.
“I’m always looking for the City of Edmonton to save money,” he said.
“We have 14,000 employees. There are internal mechanisms
We have 14,000 employees. There are internal mechanisms that could save a lot of money for the city.
that could save a lot of money for the city. I’m always looking for such opportunities.”
Dziadyk wouldn’t comment on how much he expected to save by withdrawing from the CPP since that’s the point of the memo, but stressed the amount would be significant.
He also didn’t want to specifically address the city spending $4.4 million on a second pension.
“My motion only examines the withdrawal from the (CPP) and the money which potentially could be saved by creating an Alberta Pension Plan,” Dziadyk added.