N.J.’s pension crisis growing deeper
JUNE 1, 2014, 10:52 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JUNE 1, 2014, 10:54 PM
BY JOHN REITMEYER
STATE HO– USE BUREAU
THE RECORD
Governor Christie is following the well-worn path of New Jersey governors who skipped or barely made payments to the pension fund and used the money instead to balance the yearly budget.
But Christie’s decision to skip the full payments now will have a much bigger impact on the underfunded pension system than the same move by previous governors, according to a an analysis by The Record of pension data compiled by both the Christie administration and the Legislature.
That’s because each time a full payment isn’t made, the difference between what governors need to pay to keep the pension system afloat and what they end up paying gets bigger, and by a compounding rate, the analysis showed.
For example, the $1 billion pension contribution Gov. Jon Corzine made in 2007 accounted for roughly 60 percent of the amount actuaries said the state needed to pay that year to keep the pension fund solvent.
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