Mpls. City Council approves police, fire pension mergers

A plan to merge two Minneapolis pension funds with statewide funds has received final approval.

Minneapolis officials say merging the city's police and firefighter pension funds with statewide funds will save Minneapolis taxpayers more than $20 million next year. Minneapolis City Council member Betsy Hodges said the merger isn't perfect, but it's a good compromise. She said under the deal, retirees will continue to get their benefits.

"They will certainly get the benefits to which they are entitled," Hodges said. "But now the city will be paying those benefits under different conditions, which brings some stability to the property tax levy over time and some relief to the property taxpayers of Minneapolis."

Minneapolis got legislative approval for the merger in the last session, and final approval came from the city council and boards of the various pension funds.