PERS: Nevada’s ticking time bomb
Don’t expect the current make-up of the Nevada Legislature to address this big problem.
PERS is currently a $9.1 billion unfunded liability — 298 percent larger than it was in 2000 and growing.
Read the report from the Nevada Policy Research Institute below. Weep. Hope for change in November.
Could PERS be a silver bullet?
Meaningful reform could help avert fiscal crisis
By Geoffrey Lawrence
The failure to effect the long-overdue reforms needed by Nevada’s Public Employees’ Retirement System is attracting national attention.
According to a new report from the Pew Center on the States, "Nevada’s management of its long-term pension liability is cause for serious concern and the state needs to improve how it handles its retiree health care and other benefit obligations." The report shows a $7.3 billion unfunded liability for PERS as well as a completely unfunded $2.2 billion liability for retiree health benefits.
However, even these numbers causing "serious concern" are understated, as the Pew Center’s period of analysis ended June 30, 2008. As of June 30, 2009, PERS’ unfunded liability had risen to $9.1 billion.
PERS is a ticking time-bomb. Its current $9.1 billion unfunded liability is 298 percent larger than it was in 2000 and continues to grow.