Pension bills for New York’s local governments and school districts will rise by a combined total of at least $359 million as a result of the rate increase announced by the state comptroller this week, based on the latest available salary data from the state pension system. The increases are payable by February 2013, but most counties and municipalities will accrue the added cost next year, while schools will pay the higher rates in their 2012-13 budgets. (New York City, which has its own pension funds, is excluded from the total.)
The following table estimating the impact of 2012-13 increases tax-funded contributions to the New York State and Local Employees Retirement System (ERS) and Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) updates the one in yesterday’s post here, which did not include schools.
In school districts, the ERS covers custodians, drivers, cafeteria workers and other non-professionals. But a much bigger pension hit on school budgets comes from the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System (NYSTRS), whose board recently voted to raise its tax-funded employer contribution rate from 8.62 percent of payroll to 11.11 percent of payroll. The Empire Center’s “Exploding Pension Costs” report predicts that TRS pension rates could reach 25 percent by 2016.
About the Author
You may also like
Do NY families have school choice?
Organizations across New York and the country last week observed to raise awareness of the educational pathways that exist outside of residentially-assigned public school systems. But what does Read More
Another Reason to Lift the Charter Cap
A staff shortage in upstate hospitals prompted , where hospital officials and state lawmakers asked that more funding to train medical professionals be included in January’s state bu Read More
Nation’s Report Card Paints Bleak Picture for New York
Results are in for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the nation’s report card. They paint a bleak picture for New York. Read More
NY State Public School Enrollment Falls Five Percent Since Covid
New York’s public schools lost almost 60,000 students — 2.38 percent of their total student population —in the past year alone Read More
DiNapoli bolsters pension fund stability—and cuts tax-funded costs
DiNapoli announced today that he's approved a recommendation by the State Retirement System Actuary to reduce, from 6.8 percent to 5.9 percent, the assumed rate of return (RoR) on investments by the $268 billion Common Retirement Fund, which underwrites the New York State and Local Employee Retirement System (NYSLERS) and Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS), of which the comptroller is the sole trustee. Read More
The Gov’s pension
There are several (dozens? hundreds?) of unanswered questions as the fallout from Andrew Cuomo's resignation earlier today continues. Among those are questions related to his pension, some of which can be answered, sort of.
Read More
Emergency Billions Pose Opportunity—and Risk—for NYS Schools
New York schools are to post publicly today plans for spending a huge pile of unexpected and unbudgeted cash. Read More
On Measuring School Quality, Education Week Misses the Mark
Education Week’s rankings do not measure what counts. New York’s substandard achievement coupled with highest-in-the-nation spending and above-average wealth means that when it comes to school quality, New York fails to pass the mark. Read More