Public pension liabilities at $28,000 per household in Dallas: Study

The philanthropic non-profit, which has made pension reform one of its key issues, warns that states are carrying a more than $1.26 trillion combined unfunded liability on hundreds of public retirement programs, a figure that rose by more than $250 billion from 2008 to 2009 alone.

Without significant changes, governments will be forced to back their retirement program promises by raising taxes or cutting services.

The foundation is calling on states and municipalities to require their pension plans to be fully funded and to formulate plans to pay down the current unfunded liability.

States and cities ought to move away from the current benefits promised into the future to a savings or accrual rate tied to an employee’s salary and years of service, the policy paper says.

Overall, the pension systems in Texas are better off than in other states, but a Pew Center on the States study in 2010 said the state needed to reduce its unfunded liability.

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