Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So here we are over 4 years after the stock market meltdown and either the fund has not recovered or pension costs have steadily increased or both. Regardless, taxpayers will need to ante up to cover the difference. Pension costs that exceed an increase of 2% from the prior year can have a certain amount excluded from the tax cap but I don't see how school boards will be able to address these increases without severe budget increases or borrowing.
Quote:
ALBANY -- School pension costs will increase nearly 8 percent next year,
continuing a steady climb since the stock market meltdown.
The state Teachers Retirement System, which manages the pension fund for
retired teachers and school administrators, notified districts that each will
have to pay a rate of about 17.53 percent of every pension dollar paid for the
2014-15 fiscal year. That's up from the current rate of 16.25 percent.
The hike was expected: the retirement system warned districts last fall that
the 2014-15 rate would be between 17.25 percent and 17.75 percent. The increase
means taxpayers will be on the hook for $187 million more in teacher-retirement
costs statewide, according to an analysis by the Empire Center for New York
State Policy, an anti-tax group.
I keep hearing that the NYS general and teachers funds is in such great shape that could only mean one thing, pension costs are escalating a higher rate than in the past.
I keep hearing that the NYS general and teachers funds is in such great shape that could only mean one thing, pension costs are escalating a higher rate than in the past.
Or do what the airlines did in the 80's, get the new employees out of a pension, and then break into the pension fund to spend the money on anything else. Then when the money is down to 20% of obligations dump the old plan people on the PBGC.
So whats the end game scenario ? Is there one, I mean there has to be one.
We know that its not a one time thing, the budgets have only one way to go, but assuming that sometime in the future there will be a point where the current model cannot be sustained, what then ?
I would just like to know the possible scenarios .... like, there will be no more salary hikes for the district employees OR no pension plan for new recruits OR "non-essential" programs like IB/AP etc will get cut from the school to accommodate for the increase etc.
Very amusing.
Or do what the airlines did in the 80's, get the new employees out of a pension, and then break into the pension fund to spend the money on anything else. Then when the money is down to 20% of obligations dump the old plan people on the PBGC.
One of the problems is that they are borrowing from the pension fund to cover shortfalls, that in itself is a problem but that also reduces the return on the state pension fund because they are getting a low interest rate. Some districts also wanted to float bond issues to cover the retirement shortfalls but that was denied. Basically what they have been predicting the last several years is happening and it's going to impact many districts, no surprise.
Pension costs comprised around 3% of school budgets in 2001, now it's around 35%. Districts refuse to control salaries and pensions, rather irresponsible for them to be complaining that they need funding at this point.
Quote:
Add Comptroller Tom DiNapoli to the chorus of pre-budget-day pleadings, alarms
and calls for more state education aid. Actually, the Comptroller isn’t explicitly calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to increase state aid, but he is pointing out the financial difficulty visiting many of our school
districts with release of a “Fiscal Stress Index” for school districts.
My colleague Kristen Brown took note of the fiscal stress index here, and she also reported earlier that school superintendents predict a third of their districts could become insolvent within four years
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
