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San Francisco Pension Reform Proposal Takes Shape

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said the city's 26,000-plus workers will be the hardest hit by the approach he wants to take to reform San Francisco's pension and health system.

His general plan calls for workers to contribute more to their pensions, pay health premiums and delay retirement to get a full pension.

KCBS' Barbara Taylor Reports:

"We have to prevent the pension system from hitting our general fund to the tune of $500-800 million within the next three years," said Lee.

The mayor said he is hoping to reach consensus with both labor and the supervisors, but San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi said that could be a problem.

"Now, it's just a list of ideas. Once he gets an actual proposal, he's got to get six members of the Board of Supervisors to go along with him," said Adachi. "And that can be very tricky as we know from past history."

Fiscal belt tightening is expected to continue in San Francisco over the next few years as a new report from city officials projects an over $1.4 billion deficit over the next three years.

San Francisco City Controller Ben Rosenfield said the news is gloomy.

"Our report projects a $306 million budget gap for the coming fiscal year with a growing deficit in the years beyond, rising to $642 million in 2013-14," he said.

Rosenfield said one of the few positives is that revenues are increasing, but not enough to cover costs.

(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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