[quote=SK in CV]…I’m not sure any of those bene’s are treated as priority claims in bankruptcy. Hourly and regular wages are priority claims. I think overtime is. I’m pretty sure vacation and sick time are not. Non-wage benefits for public employees? That’s what the bankruptcy court will decide.[/quote]

Good point, SK. I DO believe annual leave is a “wage” because it has to be paid out upon termination. And some government charters have a provision for sick leave to be added to the length of service for retirement purposes but this is NOT codified in state law.

It will be very interesting to see how the BK court rules in the Stockton case, even though the ruling will very likely be appealed if not in favor of the retirement board/unions.

I see this as a time and money-wasting uphill battle for a city who should probably concentrate on getting (and keeping) their house in order regardless of how the court rules. If that means layoffs and RIFs, its citizens will have to get used to less services. If they can’t staff enough employees for their state and Federally mandated programs, then they will have to seek funds from the state/Federal govm’t to run these programs or send those patrons elsewhere to apply for benefits.

Of course, we all know BK would not have been necessary had Stockton (and all other similarly-situated CA cities/counties) not allowed their jurisdiction to become grossly overbuilt during the “millenium boom,” resulting in the need to hire massive amounts of employees for nearly every one of its agencies to serve their exploding populations. Many of their “newcomers” have now exited the region, leaving hundreds of still-vacant homes, condos and apartments in their wake, resulting in the decimating the value of their RE (beyond the value it was when Big Development first came in) and thus a much lower amount of property taxes coming in (after assessment appeals and Prop 8 downward adjustments).

These City Councils and Boards of Supervisors made their own beds by pandering to Big Development and unfortunately must now sleep in them.