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Around conference tables and in city council chambers around the state, elected officials and finance officers are asking themselves how cash-strapped public employers will fund health care premiums that have been promised to future retirees.
In Oregon, it's a $3 billion question as health care costs continue to rise and an aging and benefit-rich public workforce edges closer to retirement.
For years, school boards, county commissioners and budget officers opted to forestall dealing with the looming issue of so-called other post-employment benefits. But that's changing as organizations wrestle with the reality of shrinking revenues and growing expenses related to retiree health care.
Unlike the public employee pension system, or PERS, there is no centralized system for funding these benefits, which were traditionally offered as part of the overall compensation package. In most cases, cities, counties and schools agreed to fund health care premiums for retirees from the time they stop working until they reach age 65 when they become eligible for Medicare benefits. That can vary greatly from employee to employee and organization to organization, but the cost is significant.

The city hears you.
Officials say proposed revisions to the city's special events code should strike a better balance between business owners, neighbors and event participants alike. The code dictates how special events, such as bike races and some concerts are conducted.
During the December 7 city council meeting, the issue captured the attention of the city council which was sympathetic to the criticisms levied by the community. Street closures, noise complaints and a lack of public notification were among the “main complaints” highlighted by Bend Police Department's Steve Esselstyn in his report to the councilors.
The year-end discussion follows a busy event season that produced complaints from both neighbors and business owners. Those issues were highlighted by several flashpoints over the past year, including a raucous listener appreciation concert featuring 80s rockers Night Ranger, whose arena rock set overpowered the outdoor venue at Troy Field. Later, it was bike races that drew the ire of downtown merchants who said back-to-back street closures to facilitate racing hurt their bottom line during the usually lucrative summer tourist season.

Less than a week after Postal Service officials notified the city of Bend that the local sorting facility was on the chopping block as part of a massive wave of consolidations and closures, Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley announced that they had won a temporary reprieve.
On Tuesday, the Oregon delegates announced that the Postal Service had agreed to a five-month moratorium on postal facility closures, including the Bend mail sorting facility and 41 rural post offices spread across the state.
“Post offices are essential hubs of life in rural communities. They keep community members connected and provide business opportunities that would not otherwise exist. They are critical for seniors and other rural residents to access their prescriptions. Closing post offices in rural areas would carve the communications heart out of these towns. I will do all I can to fight that outcome,” said Jeff Merkly, D-Ore., in a press release issued Tuesday.