The numbers are a lie

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - The City of Bakersfield plans to allocate some Measure N funds towards paying down pension costs, according to City Manager Alan Tandy. He said the plan will save the city millions.Tandy said the city's plan is to put $12 million of the initial Measure N tax revenue in the city's general fund. The plan, he said, will allow the city to make one yearly unfunded liability payment to CalPERS, California's public employee retirement system. Previously, the city paid CalPERS payments on a monthly basis, which incurred an interest charge of 7.5 percent. Now, Tandy says, thanks to funds from Measure N, the city will be able to pay CalPERS in full once per year, thereby saving Bakersfield $8.7 million in monthly interest over the next seven years."It will be used for cash flow purposes so we can use one CalPERS payment rather than 12," Tandy said. "That saves an enormous amount of money...It's a purely positive thing," he continued. "People think it's some sort of the bailout of the pension system, [bit] it is a reduction in the amount the city has to pay. Everybody in town aught to say 'thank you. Go for it, find a way to replicate it and do it again.'"Critics say city leaders should have been more transparent in how they planned to spend Measure N revenue, but Tandy said the city was straightforward, and added the revenue will put the city on a path of fiscal responsibility.Cathy Abernathy, KGET's Republican Political Anaylst, said city leaders did not make it clear to voters that Measure N funds would go towards paying down pensions.

The city sneaks a general obligation bond into the pension system. The lie here is apparent. If the savings was that huge then they would have done it without the measure N money.  It should have been financeable with cash flow.  Cash flow is constrained, they are not getting more cops on the beat, the the city is taking out long term fiance to cover current pension payments.