The soaring cost of New York State's public pension systems can be permanently controlled by shifting to the sort of employer-subsidized individual retirement plans now popular in the private sector, according to an updated study of the state's pension structure by the Empire Center for New York State Policy.

The study -- "Defusing New York's Pension Bomb: A Fair Approach for Workers and Taxpayers" -- documents a $5.6 billion increase in tax-funded contributions to the retirement funds for public workers over the past five years.

"The pension problem is not simply a function of the 2000-03 stock-market slump or Albany's increases in pension benefits six years ago -- although both helped precipitate the latest crisis," the study says. "The real cause is the fundamental design of the pension system itself, which obscures costs and wreaks havoc on long-term financial planning."