As Costs Soar, Taxpayers Target Pensions of Cops and Firefighters

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Firefighter Brian Endicott got an early taste of the pension battle brewing here when a man at the grocery store angrily pointed to the steaks in his cart.

"Who do you think you are, wasting taxpayers' money on a meal like this?" the man yelled at 46-year-old Mr. Endicott, who was shopping for dinner with three other firefighters from San Jose Fire Station No. 1.

After the 2001 terrorist attacks, sympathetic residents of this affluent city gathered at the firehouse to offer flowers, cakes and pies. Today, public sentiment toward the men and women in uniform has widely shifted, as many locals are up in arms over escalating pension costs for public-safety workers.

In the current fiscal year ending June 30, San Jose's retirement obligations soared to $245 million, up from $73 million a decade ago, according to the city. For police officers and firefighters who have retired since 2007, the average pension is $95,336, making them among the most generously compensated in the state.

On Tuesday, voters here will decide whether to overhaul pensions for all city employees, including about 2,200 public-safety workers. The ballot measure makes San Jose one of only a few places in the U.S. where voters have unilateral power to restructure pensions.

The initiative would force current city workers to either contribute more to keep their promised benefits or accept a more modest pension. It would also give the city the right to temporarily suspend cost-of-living raises that retired workers now receive.