Passionate about pensions

Warren J. Schott, the executive director of the San Antonio Fire and Police Pension Fund, makes a passionate defense of keeping pensions for public safety personnel. They deserve a secure retirement he says.

This opinion piece, written by Warren J. Schott for the San Antonio Express-News makes a thoughtful, well written and passionate argument for continuing a sound pension program for the people who don a uniform and risk it all to keep us safe. Great concepts here to adapt for your own opinion piece.

Police, fire pensions: Sound and necessary

By Warren J. Schott

During this holiday season, we’ve been reminded of the dangers each professional man and woman of our Police and Fire departments face daily.

We are reminded because we recently lost another fine, dedicated police officer to a senseless act. We shouldn’t need reminders like this, but, unfortunately, we often forget the risks of death and injury to those who protect us.

Firefighters and EMS personnel also perform their jobs under dangerous conditions, especially at this time of year, when cold temperatures, overloaded circuits and flammable materials are commonplace. The side effects of their profession, caused by the stress of repetitive responses to dangerous situations, have long-lasting consequences for their health and life expectancies.

The San Antonio Fire and Police Pension Fund was established in 1919 to provide benefits specifically because of the hazardous nature of these public safety professions. The pension fund not only provides retirement benefits but also disability benefits, including catastrophic and death benefits for the families of those who make the ultimate sacrifice.

These benefits are a comfort for each police, fire and EMS professional who routinely performs dangerous functions knowing he or she could be killed or permanently disabled each time a call comes in. These guardians of public safety know they don’t have to worry about the financial well-being of their families if something very bad happens, which, in Texas occurs all too frequently. Texas leads the country in line-of-duty deaths.

The pension fund is critical to maintaining quality public safety services. The staff and trustees elected from the ranks of active and retired employees, as well as the appointees from the City Council, take our roles very seriously.

We are very proud that the pension fund was recently honored nationally by being named the Small Public Plan of the Year by the editors of Money Management Intelligence. MMI is a leading provider of news, data and information covering the business of U.S. pension fund investing. The pension fund is also is a key component of our city’s strong AAA bond rating, reducing borrowing costs for municipal projects.

With a funding ratio of just more than 92 percent, the San Antonio Fire and Police Pension Fund is financially strong. As long as politically motivated hysteria does not overcome common sense, it will be here as a well-deserved legacy for our dedicated public safety professionals well into the future.

Together, we can keep that legacy intact.

Warren J. Schott, CFA, is executive director of the San Antonio Fire and Police Pension Fund.