Dominic M. Calabro
The Pensacola News Journal
February 22, 2013
Pension obligations are a ticking time bomb for municipal governments and their taxpayers. Taxpayer contributions into local pension systems are increasing rapidly and most of the municipal plans are underfunded. According to data from the Florida Department of Management Services, 300 of 487 plans have funding ratios below 80 percent, the standard for a healthy pension plan.
There are numerous reasons for this predicament. Some local pension systems were harmed by poor management, such as suspending contributions; bad investment decisions and inadequate actuarial studies that hid the problem from local governments. Read the full article online here