Pension deficit rising: California taxpayers could bare the burden.

Publication: Daily Press (Victorville, CA)

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COPYRIGHT 2007 Daily Press

Byline: Ryan Orr

Jan. 1--Costs of pension and healthcare obligations promised to California public employees are rising each year. It is a burden that many say is already out of control, and will likely fall in the laps of taxpayers.

The state's pension share went from $160 million in 2000 to an estimated $2.6 billion in 2005. In California in 2006 there was about $5 billion in expenditures taken directly out of operating budgets to help pay for retirement healthcare for public employees, said Steven Frates of the Rose Institute of State and Local Government. "By 2019 we expect that number to reach $30 billion," he said. "That's...

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