Two retirees who unsuccessfully sued the San Diego County employees pension board will appeal their case to the state Supreme Court. The retirees questioned how the county recalculated its assets in 2002. A ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeal this week rejected the lawsuit. KPBS Reporter Amita Sharma has more.
Lawyer Michael Conger filed the lawsuit on behalf of the county retirees. He says the appellate ruling, if allowed to stand, will destroy public pensions across the state.
The justices stated in the ruling that the state constitution does not require that pension plans be adequately funded. Conger says the ruling conflicts with the public pension act which calls for retirement funds to be protected from employers who want to underfund them.
Conger: In doing this we want to protect taxpayers from future tax increases which occur when you underfund the pension system because sooner or later it's going to need a bailout."
A lawyer for the county says the state supreme court will likely reject a petition to hear the case because the appellate ruling makes sense based on the law and facts. Amita Sharma, KPBS News.
