The NEXT 10 City Pensions That Will Run Out Of Money (Old article relevant to Detroit's Bankruptcy)

Business Insider ^ | 12/27/2010 | Gus Lubin

[SeekAndFind]

The first total municipal pension default happened last week: Prichard, Ala. ran out of money stopped mailing pension checks.

Hundreds of cities could be right behind. Projections by Robert Novy-Marx and Joshua Rauh [PDF] show the average city has $15,000 per household in unfunded pension liabilities. These massive liabilities are ignored by common government accounting (see chart).

Insolvency means benefit cuts or borrowing from the already-near-broke states.

Many of the 77 cities surveyed by Novy-Marx and Rauh are facing insolvency within the next decade. Other small cities like Prichard could go even sooner.

#10 Fort Worth

Mayor Mike Moncrief

Unfunded liability: $2 billion

Unfunded liability per household: $7,212

Solvency horizon: 2023

#9 Detroit

Mayor David Bing

Unfunded liability: $6.4 billion

Unfunded liability per household: $18,643

Solvency horizon: 2023

#8 Baltimore

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

Unfunded liability: $3.7 billion

Unfunded liability per household: $15,420

Solvency horizon: 2022

#7 New York City

Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Unfunded liability: $122.2 billion

Unfunded liability per household: $38,886

Solvency horizon: 2021

#6 Jacksonville #6 Jacksonville

Mayor John Peyton

Unfunded liability: $4 billion

Unfunded liability per household: $12,994

Solvency horizon: 2020

#5 St. Paul

Mayor Chris Coleman

Unfunded liability: $1.4 billion

Unfunded liability per household: $13,686

Solvency horizon: 2020

Note: These numbers refer to St. Paul's largest pension, a teachers fund.

#4 Cincinnati #4 Cincinnati

Mayor Mark Mallory

Unfunded liability: $2 billion

Unfunded liability per household: $15,681

Solvency horizon: 2020

#3 Boston #3 Boston

Mayor Thomas Menino

Unfunded liability: $7.5 billion

Unfunded liability per household: $30,901

Solvency horizon: 2019

#2 Chicago

Mayor Richard Daley

Unfunded liability: $44.8 billion

Unfunded liability per household: $41,966

Solvency horizon: 2019

#1 Philadelphia

Unfunded liability: $9 billion

Unfunded liability per household: $16,690

Solvency horizon: 2015

[GladesGuru]

IMHO, bankrupt out of the trough feeder pension funds, then they can fight with trolls for living space under the bridges.

[b4its2late]

Yes, you’re right. Daley may have been when that article was written.

[djf]

The “public pension bubble” is gonna make the “real estate bubble” look like chump change.