The city’s $63 million budget surplus has become a bone of contention between municipal retirees and city officials, The Detroit News reported yesterday. Retirees insist that they deserve a share of the surplus in order to make up for hits they took to their pensions and other benefits during the city’s bankruptcy three years ago. The city’s CFO says that’s not possible because the extra money needs to be set aside to cover future pension obligations. While the two sides debate how those extra funds should be spent, retirees like struggle to make ends meet. Thousands of retirees saw their pensions cut by 4.5 percent in 2014 after the city filed for bankruptcy. The city slashed $7.8 billion from payments to its retired workers and escaped $4.3 billion in retiree health care costs. The city’s administration said there’s no way to restore pensions because Detroit must set aside funds each year for the Retiree Protection Fund to address a looming pension shortfall in 2024.
