(Bloomberg) — Pension checks will shrink 6.7 percent for 12,000 Detroit retirees beginning in March. Making matters worse, many also must pay back thousands of dollars of excess interest they received.
It's a bitter outcome of Detroit's record $18 billion municipal bankruptcy for David Espie, 58, who will repay the city $75,000 in a lump sum while his $3,226 monthly pension is cut by $216.
As retirement costs swallow larger portions of U.S. city budgets, Detroit's bankruptcy plan resolved a pension crisis with creative strokes, though at a cost to retirees who thought their benefits were untouchable.
"I feel betrayed," said Espie, who may abandon plans to move to Alabama. He recounted family get-togethers he missed during the 30 years he spent in the Department of Public Works picking up trash and plowing snow. He also pays $500 a month more for health insurance than a year ago.
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