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COLUMBIA - The Columbia Police Officers' Association (CPOA) Saturday urged the Columbia City Council to approve a pension proposal that the City's three labor organizations created in conjunction with City management.

The proposal will save the City $53.1 million over the next 20 years, bypassing tax increases and/or layoffs of critical City services due to these unfunded pension costs.

Police Pension cuts will total almost $17.7 million, exceeding the target goal of $17.6 million. The balance of the cuts will come from Local Government Employees Retirement System (LAGERS) and the Fire Fighters Pension System.

"Because the City wanted to work with us, we chose to work with them. Neither party wanted to end up in costly litigation as so many other Cities across the nation have done," said Officer John Dye, who was part of the CPOA negotiating team. "This spirit of cooperation resulted in perhaps more concessions from the police than we initially wanted to give. The City ended up with a tremendous solution on the table, so we are asking the Council to pass the proposal."

The City Council is expected to take the proposal up at their regularly scheduled meeting July 16 at 7:00 PM. If passed, City officials will implement the proposed pension changes October 1, 2012.