Local officials around the state are breathing a sigh of relief after Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced Tuesday that their required contribution to fund public employee pensions will tick down.

It’s the first decrease since 2010, and it comes in the wake of a major spike after the 2008 stock market crash.

Public workers draw their pensions from a common fund managed by DiNapoli, and municipal employers are forced to contribute more when its investments underperform. The increase has squeezed city, county and town budgets around the state.

The reductions will begin in 2014. A DiNapoli spokesman said its actuarial report indicated a roughly $100 million reduction next year.

“We’re very happy campers,” said Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino. “The fact that we will get some relief from that number continuing to increase will take tremendous pressure off of the budget process we’re undertaking.”

DiNapoli called the reduction “modest.” Rates for most workers — part of the retirement system — will decrease from 20.9 percent of payroll to 20.1 percent. The contribution rate for police officers and firefighters will drop from 28.9 percent of payroll to 27.6 percent.

The lower rate is due in part to fund returns — the $160 billion Common Retirement Fund’s annual return last year was 10.38 percent. It only posted a 0.29 percent return in its last quarterly report. It also changed the way its investments are valued.

An actuarial adviser recommended the change in the way the fund books profits and losses in its bond investments, boosting their performance on paper. DiNapoli said the value of the investments is “tied now more to market trends.”

“We’re going to work hard to keep that trend moving in that direction, and I think that will be welcomed by our local elected officials,” DiNapoli said. “If the markets stay reasonably stable, my assumption, certainly for the short run, is that we’re going to continue to see a downward trend.”

Municipal officials said they had been bracing for an increase.

Stephen Acquario, executive director of the New York State Association of Counties, said the higher rates in recent years have “put the squeeze in the ability to impose local services in the face of the state-imposed property tax cap and a lagging economy.”

It’s possible the actuarial change was what tipped the scales, said E.J. McMahon, an analyst with the fiscally conservative Empire Center. He called the drop “microscopic” and said markets remain “volatile.”

“Nobody should think this is the beginning or end of anything,” McMahon said.

In Watervliet, Mayor Mike Manning said his pension costs -— about 12 percent of the $11 million city budget — would stay flat when an increase in salaries is factored in.

“We’d like it to go down more. This is one of our biggest expenses, obviously, and it’s been compounded in recent years as some police and firefighters have been injured, and we’ve had to pay more overtime,” he said.

In 2001, Jimino said, the county paid $1 million for worker pensions. The cost is now around $16 million.

New York State Conference of Mayors Executive Director Peter Baynes said localities could still confront tax hikes or service cuts.

“Pension bills will continue to inflict pain at the local level,” he said. “Until there is a steep and sustained drop in pension rates, pension costs will continue to force difficult budgetary choices — such as tax increases and service reductions — by local governments throughout New York.”