When Florida lawmakers return for session tomorrow, one issue they’ll wrestle with is local pension reform. Here in Jacksonville, pension debt is more than 40 percent unfunded. University of North Florida Professor Michael Hallett says part of the city’s problem stems from a state-imposed cap on local tax increases.
“The Police and Fire Pension Fund debt in Jacksonville is in part driven by a longer standing failure to pay into the Police and Fire Pension Fund at the levels that were agreed to contractually,” Hallett said.
According to the Leroy Collins Institute, local Florida governments have more than $8 billion of unfunded pension promises. The proposed reform would give cities more flexibility to pay down their debts.
Photo credit: "Florida State Capitol and Florida House Office" by Michael Rivera is used under CC BY-SA 3.0.
