http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-930349.mp3
Kansas City, MO – Kansas City faces an additional 2012 budget expense of more than twenty million dollars. Pension experts recommend yesterday that the city pay in the extra money to bring the fund up to best practices.
Councilman Ed Ford says that's one of many expenses that will make 2012 a tough budget year. He says there's already an expected $12 million shortfall.
Ford commented, "If we give out any sort of even modest raises, and we haven't done that for three years, that'll cost us at least 8 million. Then we have issues like the pensions being underfunded - that at least the pension board is asking that we address. We have infrastructure needs that we have been underfunding. There's a variety of issues."
Another of those issues is pensions for MAST ambulance workers who recently went on the city payroll. The plan their union wants would cost the city about another three million dollars a year.