The Miami Herald Money Matters column.

Publication: The Miami Herald (Miami, Florida) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News)

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COPYRIGHT 2004 The Miami Herald

Byline: Harriet Johnson Brackey

Nov. 21--PUBLIC PENSION PROBLEMS: A lot of drama is playing out in the normally quiet world of public pension funds.

A number of pensions that fund the retirement of municipal workers, police officers and firefighters have suffered extremely poor investment results in the last few years. If pension funds can't earn enough money to pay retirees, the taxpayers end up paying the difference.

In some cities, that's already begun.

The $55 million Hallandale Beach Police and Fire Pension fund's returns are so rotten, for example, that the city and state together this year are having to kick in almost $3 million to shore up the fund. That works out to $244 per taxpayer.

In North Miami Beach, the police and general employee pension funds have grown an average of 0.9 percent a year in the last five years.

Nationwide, the...

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