Portland debt clock ratchets up for bad pension news
As reported here yesterday, the City of Portland has announced to the world that it had been underestimating the magnitude of its unfunded liability for pension and disability obligations to its police and firefighters. According to the latest pronouncement from the city, prior figures (about $1.9 billion as of July 1, 2007) understated the liability by anywhere from 13 to 20 percent.
To reflect the new, grimmer reality, we have increased the unfunded pension liability on our City of Portland debt clock (in the left sidebar of this blog) by the low end of this projection, 13 percent. In about a month, the city will reveal its revised estimate of the actual unfunded liability, and we can "true up" to official July 1, 2008 numbers (which will probably be higher) at that time.
With the change in place, unfunded pension and disability liabilities and retiree healthcare subsidy liabilities now total approximately $2.47 billion. Overall city long-term debt is now about $5.41 billion, or roughly $9,375 for every resident of the city.
Gulp.
| Posted at 9:16 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (3)
"$9,375 for every resident of the city."
I plan to leave before they ask for mine.
Posted by Deeds | November 13, 2008 12:21 PM
Jack, Another interesting calculation that would be good to look at in comparison would be the number of years of General Fund Discretionary spending or real estate tax revenues we are in debt. Even then it doesn't tell the story of deferred maintenance left undone while other things are financed.
Posted by swimmer | November 13, 2008 5:06 PM
You should move out of Porkland and save yourself, but businesses are affected by this, too.
Business Owner hosed = Employees hosed, benefits cut, hours slashed. Say goodbye to jobs in Portland.
What a bunch of idiots running the city.
Posted by Livin La Vida Suburbia | November 13, 2008 7:03 PM