Salt Lake's growing gap in pension funding may cost taxpayers

Salt Lake City may need to increase taxes or cut expenses to cover an $83.6 million gap in future city employee pension costs.

The Pew Center on the States' report on widening pension gaps in the U.S. said healthy cities should cover at least 80 percent of future liabilities.

Assets for the city's pension fund will only cover 70 percent of future liabilities, according to the city’s financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011. Since 2000, that figure has dropped 11 percentage points through 2010.

Unfunded liabilities are a statewide issue because Salt Lake funds its retirees through the Utah Retirement Fund, said Gordon Hoskins, financial director for Salt Lake City. The fund declined with the stock market when the recession hit in 2008. By comparison, in 2007 a healthy stock market helped the city cover 85 percent of its future liabilities. Deseret News