City Explores Pension Problem

Pittsburgh City Council continued its series of hearings investigating a new five year financial recovery plan. Thursdays hearing focused on Pensions.The third of seven hearings saw City Council searching for a way to address a pension fund low on cash and in trouble. Council member Bill Peduto says the city pension system is "broken" and in a "continuous spiral".
With an infusion of cash needed to alter the path of the fund, the Mayor has proposed leasing city parking assets, but Peduto is worried about how that would affect parking rates and wants to explore selling the garages to gain taxable property. The jury is still out on the Mayors plan with a feasibility study currently underway. Peduto also wants to explore merging the states pension plans into one large plan. Peduto said currently Pennsylvania has 1 out of every 4 municipal pension plans in the nation. He admits this would be a difficult task to accomplish but says it has been successful when tried in other states. The next in this series of hearings concerns city debt and health care costs, and will be held next Thursday at 10 A.M.