Pension Crisis
Tom Wolf’s refusal to address Pennsylvania’s pension crisis would raise property taxes!
More Tom Wolf Pension Crisis Facts
- Pennsylvania has a pension crisis that "threatens to bankrupt the state as well as just about every school district in the commonwealth." 1
- Tom Wolf doesn’t believe we have a pension crisis. 2
- Tom Wolf said "we don’t have a crisis" during a debate in Harrisburg. 2
- Tom Wolf said "it’s not a crisis" during a debate in Philadelphia. 3
- Failure to act on Pennsylvania’s pension crisis will "crippl[e] local school budgets," and lead to higher property taxes. 4
- At least 163 Pennsylvania school districts applied to increase their taxes above the rate of inflation due to rising pension obligations. 5
- Examples of projected annual property tax increases due to rising pension costs:
- Allentown School District: $511 6
- Easton Area School District: $352 6
- "Pensions costs consume 60 cents of every new dollar of state revenues." 7
- "Our [pension] debt is unsustainable." 8
- Pennsylvania’s state pension funds are underfunded by more than $47 billion. 9
- That’s nearly $3,700 for every Pennsylvanian, or over $14,700 for a family of four. 9,10
- Alternate calculations place the unfunded liability even higher:
- $63.5 billion – Moody’s Investor Services 11
- Nearly $5,000 for every Pennsylvanian, or over $19,800 for a family of four. 10,11
- $63.5 billion – Moody’s Investor Services 11
- "[T]he combined unfunded liability is projected to climb to $65 billion in a few years." 12
- Taxpayer contributions to state pension plans are projected to nearly triple in just four years! 9
- From $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2013-2014, to $4.3 billion in fiscal year 2017-2018. 9
- Editorial, "Corbett’s Conviction," Bucks County Courier Times, 7/2/2014 [Archive Copy]
- Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association (PLCA) and the Widener University School of Law, Law and Government Institute Debate in Harrisburg, 4/9/2014
- Gubernatorial Forum On Education in Philadelphia, 4/30/2014
- Evan Brandt, "Pa. Pension Time Bomb Part 5: Crisis cripples local school budgets," Pottstown Mercury, 6/8/2014 [Archive Copy]
- Maura Pennington, "Loophole allows schools districts to raise property taxes in Pennsylvania," Watchdog.org, 6/11/2014 [Archive Copy]
- Nathan Benefield, "Reform State Pension Plans Now or Pay More Taxes Later," Commonwealth Foundation, 11/4/2013 [Archive Copy]
- Brad Bumsted and Melissa Daniels, "Pa. Legislature approves $29.1B budget; Corbett withholds signature," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 6/30/2014 [Archived Copy]
- Gene Marks, "Tom Corbett Is Absolutely Right About Pension Reform," Philadelphia Magazine, 7/2/2014 [Archive Copy]
- "Pension Reform Fact Sheet," Office of the Budget, Accessed 7/7/2014 [Archive Copy]
- "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013," U.S. Census Bureau, Accessed 7/8/2014 [Archive Copy]
- "Adjusted Pension Liability Medians for US States," Moody’s Investors Service, 6/27/2013 [Archive Copy]
- Natasha Lindstrom, "As Pa. lawmakers debate reforms, schools brace for pension rate spikes," Bucks County Courier Times, 10/6/2013 [Archive Copy]