Pension Deficit Disorder
Its not just social security and the corporate pension plans that are underfunded, public-employee pension costs are devastating city, county and state government budgets throughout the nation. Just a few examples below...
CalPERS is the largest pension fund in the nation, holding $180 billion, CalSTRS (California State Teachers Retirement System), the country's second-largest, with holdings of another $125 billion, each are underfunded by more than $20 billion.
California's pension obligation ballooned from $160 million in 2000 to $2.6 billion this year. The state teacher pension fund has a $23 billion deficit. In local government, the city of San Diego and Orange and Contra Costa counties each has unfunded pension liabilities of more than $1 billion.
Contra Costa County's traditional defined-benefit plan suffers from a deficit of more than $1 billion, cuts in funding for "infrastructure repair, law enforcement, social welfare and health" will be needed to pay off the debt.
Contra Costa's pension costs have risen from $29 million (or 5 percent of the county budget) in 1994 to $103 million (or more than 12 percent of the budget) this year. Reliable estimates show pension costs alone exceeding 20 percent of the county's general fund before the debt is fully repaid.
See: Solution to Pension Woes? - S.F. Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/02/06/EDGSMAPBJP1.DTL
CalPERS is the largest pension fund in the nation, holding $180 billion, CalSTRS (California State Teachers Retirement System), the country's second-largest, with holdings of another $125 billion, each are underfunded by more than $20 billion.
California's pension obligation ballooned from $160 million in 2000 to $2.6 billion this year. The state teacher pension fund has a $23 billion deficit. In local government, the city of San Diego and Orange and Contra Costa counties each has unfunded pension liabilities of more than $1 billion.
Contra Costa County's traditional defined-benefit plan suffers from a deficit of more than $1 billion, cuts in funding for "infrastructure repair, law enforcement, social welfare and health" will be needed to pay off the debt.
Contra Costa's pension costs have risen from $29 million (or 5 percent of the county budget) in 1994 to $103 million (or more than 12 percent of the budget) this year. Reliable estimates show pension costs alone exceeding 20 percent of the county's general fund before the debt is fully repaid.
See: Solution to Pension Woes? - S.F. Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/02/06/EDGSMAPBJP1.DTL
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