Florida TaxWatch and the LeRoy Collins Institute Release “Looking at Florida’s Municipal Pensions”
Florida TaxWatch and the LeRoy Collins Institute Release “Looking at Florida’s Municipal Pensions”
TALLAHASSEE- Some Florida cities are taking meaningful steps towards reducing their pension liabilities, according to a Report released today by Florida TaxWatch, the statewide, independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit taxpayer research institution and government watchdog headquartered in Tallahassee, and the LeRoy Collins Institute, housed at Florida State University.
Looking at Florida’s Municipal Pensions: How some Florida cities are dealing with pension funding issues highlights the steps being taken by cities like Lakeland, Miami, and Jacksonville, among others, to reduce the burden on local taxpayers as a result of promised pension benefits to municipal employees.
“A number of Florida cities are faced with significant, almost crippling liabilities in their municipal pensions that bring into question the long-term sustainability of these pension systems,” said Dominic M. Calabro, President & CEO of Florida TaxWatch. “This Research Report shows that while some have chosen to kick the can down the road, there are some cities stepping up and making the hard, yet necessary choices on behalf of taxpayers. Some of these solutions show that it is not just a funding problem, it is a systemic problem.”
“This report examines accounts of what some cities are doing to address the funding challenges today and those looming in the future,” said Dr. Carol S. Weissert, Director of the LeRoy Collins Institute and Professor of Political Science at Florida State University. “City officials have worked with their employees and their employee unions to realistically address underfunding issues in ways that best meet their own situations.”
The Report can be found here.
CONTACT:
Chris Barry
Communications Coordinator
cbarry@floridataxwatch.org
850.222.5052
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It’s Research that Gets Results!
Florida TaxWatch is a statewide, non-profit, non-partisan research institute that over its 32-year history has become widely recognized as the watchdog of citizens’ hard-earned tax dollars. Its mission is to provide the citizens of Florida and public officials with high quality, independent research and education on government revenues, expenditures, taxation, public policies and programs and to increase the productivity and accountability of Florida state and local government. Its support comes from homeowners and retirees, small and large businesses, philanthropic foundations, and professional associations. On the web at www.FloridaTaxWatch.org.
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