Tom Wolf Facts

Tom Wolf doesn’t think Pennsylvania has a pension crisis despite $47 BILLION in unfunded pension liability.

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
• "[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

1. Editorial, "Corbett’s Conviction," Bucks County Courier Times, 7/2/2014 [Archive Copy]
2. Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association (PLCA) and the Widener University School of Law, Law and Government Institute Debate in Harrisburg, 4/9/2014
3. Gubernatorial Forum On Education in Philadelphia, 4/30/2014
4. Evan Brandt, "Pa. Pension Time Bomb Part 5: Crisis cripples local school budgets," Pottstown Mercury, 6/8/2014 [Archive Copy]
5. Maura Pennington, "Loophole allows schools districts to raise property taxes in Pennsylvania," Watchdog.org, 6/11/2014 [Archive Copy]
6. Nathan Benefield, "Reform State Pension Plans Now or Pay More Taxes Later," Commonwealth Foundation, 11/4/2013 [Archive Copy]
7. Brad Bumsted and Melissa Daniels, "Pa. Legislature approves $29.1B budget; Corbett withholds signature," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 6/30/2014 [Archived Copy]
8. Gene Marks, "Tom Corbett Is Absolutely Right About Pension Reform," Philadelphia Magazine, 7/2/2014 [Archive Copy]
9. "Pension Reform Fact Sheet," Office of the Budget, Accessed 7/7/2014 [Archive Copy]
10. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013," U.S. Census Bureau, Accessed 7/8/2014 [Archive Copy]
11. "Adjusted Pension Liability Medians for US States," Moody’s Investors Service, 6/27/2013 [Archive Copy]
12. Natasha Lindstrom, "As Pa. lawmakers debate reforms, schools brace for pension rate spikes," Bucks County Courier Times, 10/6/2013 [Archive Copy]