Pensions, Benefits Cut for Kennesaw City Council

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Future members of the Kennesaw City Council will not receive pensions or health care benefits after the current city council voted 3-2 to end the programs on Monday.

The sponsor of the measure, Cris Eaton-Welsh, said that the benefits were unfair because mayors and council members immediately became vested, while rank-and-file employees have to wait at least 10 years for the same benefits. Eaton-Welsh told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that council members didn’t have to pay into the old plans, while regular city employees had to.

Councilwoman Debra Williams told the Marietta Daily Journal in May that she believes the end of benefits will ensure that career politicians do not become entrenched at Kennesaw City Hall.

Mayor Mark Mathews told the MDJ in May that he supported the policy of providing the mayor and council with insurance plans, and he himself has a city-issued insurance policy. The city pays 87 percent of insurance costs, a city spokesperson told the MDJ.

Current council members will continue to receive the pensions and benefits until their current terms expire; if they are re-elected, they will not receive pensions or benefits when their next terms start.

The council decided to push back a decision on a non-binding referendum on term limits after the city attorney advised that the city first approach the Georgia General Assembly and ask to amend the city charter to allow non-binding referendums to appear on ballots, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says.

The referendum will ask voters if they would like to see council members held to two four-year terms.