Jacksonville is not the only city facing a public employee retirement plan funding crisis.
Executives from The Pew Charitable Trusts were in Jacksonville on Monday to offer their assistance in helping Jacksonville analyze and solve it's pension problems.
The Philadelphia-based non-profit has been studying pension issues around the country for six years. It recently helped the Commonwealth of Kentucky approve a pension reform plan.
Pew senior researcher David Draine told members of the Jacksonville Retirement Task Force that they rely on data to focus on what research can be used to move a city forward.
The task force is expected to officially accept Pew's offer for assistance at their regular meeting scheduled for Friday.
Task force chair Bill Scheu welcomes the groups assistance, saying they have many years of experience and can provide an outside perspective for the city.
Scheu says he hopes to finish work with Pew by December and come up with a new pension reform proposal to present to Mayor Alvin Brown in January.
