New York’s staggering pension bills

Pensions and unfunded retirement benefits are a hot-button issue across the United States, but how do they affect New York? Let’s turn to the State Data Lab to find out.

According to Truth in Accounting’s newly released Financial State of New York, the state has promised $112 billion in retirement benefits — however, the actual funding for these remains uncertain. New York’s bills come out to a whopping $257 billion, 44 percent of which are comprised of unfunded employees’ retirement benefits. In short, New York is drowning in retirement debts.

Another important issue to note is the massive disparity between the disclosed and undisclosed retirement debts in New York. The state only reported $34.6 billion in unfunded retirement debts, despite an additional $77.3 billion the state government didn’t disclose on their balance sheet.

What do these tremendous debts mean for the average New York taxpayer? Well, if the state debt was to be paid off in full, each taxpayer would have to send their state government a staggering $20,100. New York’s fiscal irresponsibility is placing a huge burden on its taxpayers — do you have 20 grand to send your state government?

If you’re interested to learn more about New York’s state finances, check out Truth in Accounting’s newly released Financial State of New York.