The degree to which North Carolina’s system is fully funded depends on who’s running the numbers.
RALEIGH — A fiscal analyst who reviews state and local budgets nationwide says North Carolina and other states have understated dramatically the size of their pension liabilities, and have failed to provide enough money to prevent either large tax increases or major cuts in retirement benefits down the road.
RALEIGH — The pension board also affirmed its decision not to ask the General Assembly to restore funding to the pension plan the legislature failed to provide last year.
RALEIGH — Little-noticed help came to North Carolina from the so-called bill with no name that President Obama signed into law Aug. 10. The extra federal money from H.R. 1586 will help the state make a larger cash payment to the Teachers and State Employees Retirement System than budgeted. Unfortunately, the payment still falls about $182 million short. It’s the first time in 69 years the General Assembly has failed to make a 100 percent contribution.
RALEIGH — The state of North Carolina promises lifetime pension benefits for state workers and teachers if they’ve worked in their jobs long enough to qualify. State Treasurer Janet Cowell appointed a group this year to study whether the state pension system needs any changes for the future. The group meets again Aug. 23. Chairman Robert Clark is a professor of management innovation and entrepreneurship and professor of economics at N.C. State University. Earlier this year, Clark discussed the group’s goals with Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal Radio.
RALEIGH — Politicians were required to pay $684 million to keep the pension fund balanced. Instead they set up two scenarios, neither of which amounts to $684 million. The final figure will depend on whether the federal government continues to pay for some state Medicaid programs.
RALEIGH — More than 250 people covered by the North Carolina pension system make more than $100,000 annually in pension payments, and a handful are paid more than the limits for pension payments allowed by the Internal Revenue Service, which top out at $195,000.
David Bass on state scrutiny of tax returns from big families; Mike Walden on state of the economy; Robert Rucho on misguided jobs measures; Robert Clark on long-term viability of N.C.'s pension system; Terry Stoops on conflicting charter school rules.
RALEIGH — The real estate investments in North Carolina’s pension fund lost about a third of their value last year; this was the worst loss among the categories of investments in the fund’s portfolio. Because information about specific real estate investments is not considered a public record, it’s impossible to know which investments brought down the pension fund’s value.
RALEIGH — The Future of Retirement Study Commission is scheduled to meet for the first time Jan. 25 in Raleigh. The 13 people on the commission include legislators, state Budget Director Charles Perusse, human resources employees, union members, and policy analysts.
A judge rules in favor of the clear language in the state's governing legal document.
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