State pension fund plunges 26 percent
The value of assets held by the state pension fund plunged 26 percent last year, to $109.9 billion, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said today.
The drop will mean higher contributions from taxpayers will be needed in 2011 to keep paying pension benefits to retirees of state and local governments, he said.
He attributed the drop to the international economic downturn.
“Like everyone who has seen the value of their investments decline, we’ve felt the weight of the global economic crisis,’’ he said.
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Absolutely OUTRAGEOUS!!! The State Pension Fund gambles with the money, loses, and the taxpayer is expected to make them whole. If they make money, they keep it; if they lose money, Joe Taxpayer makes up the losses. If I had this deal, I’d bet the house weekly on the NY Giants game and sleep soundly no matter what the outcome. How do we allow this insanity to continue?
Obviously no one really cares about another 25 billion down the drain, 25 billion that the already staggered taxpayer will be billed for. People around here are more interested in goats and romance, vis a vis Assemblyman Ball. Instead of bombarding these legislators with demands for fiscal reform and ending the stranglehold of the unions, we waste our time with old stories of polo ponies, recruitment offices, and one inconsequential assembly position. Meanwhile, the unconscionable spending increases, and the State stumble furthers into the abyss of bankruptcy. Pathetic. Is it any wonder we are in the situation we are in?