Fireman Pension Forces City to Lose Its Water Money: Muni Credit
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A firefighter in Allentown, Pennsylvania, which plans to lease its water system to meet retirement costs, left last year with an annual pension of $99,289, more than double what state law says was due.
Most municipalities in the state, home to a quarter of U.S. public pension plans, show similar disregard for local statutes, said James McAneny, executive director of Pennsylvania’s Public Employee Retirement Commission. They’re paying the price. The liability for the extra payments may approach $1 billion, said Rick Dreyfuss, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and the Commonwealth Foundation.