Back in October, Sacramento's charter officers, the city manager, city clerk, city treasurer and city attorney volunteered to pay the employee portion of their retirement costs. Previously the city - that means taxpayers, really- had picked up that payment, as it does in total or in part for all other city employees.

Then on Tuesday, the council ratified  an agreement that requires the city's top managers, including the police chief, fire chief and all city  department heads to begin paying the employee share of retirement too.

In exchange for the pension pick-up, which amounts to a pay cut of between 7 and 9 percent, some 35 top level city employees won't be subject to furloughs. And the city will net about $100 thousand dollars from the new arrangement, not a lot of money but symbolically, this is a very big deal.

The city of Sacramento faces another tough budget year. Rising pension costs have to be addressed. The dubious practice of local governments  picking up the employee share of retirement costs, by no means unique to Sacramento,  shields workers from the growing pension burden.

In this economy that's no longer appropriate.   But before any city can ask its lower paid workers to pay more, it must demand equal sacrifice from the highest paid people in the organization. By agreeing to pay the employee share of pension costs, Sacramento City leaders have set the right tone.

Ginger Rutland writes for The Sacramento Bee opinion pages.