How they plan on raising your property taxes
Why States Need to Restructure Pension Obligations
Published: Tuesday, 12 Jul 2011 | 9:45 AM ET Text Size By: Jonathan S. Henes
Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP Twitter
The major issue facing states and municipalities is the unsustainability of their defined benefit public pension plans. States and local governments made promises to public employees that upon retirement they would receive defined payments for the rest of their lives.
Jonathan Henes
Kirkland & Ellis LLP Unfortunately, this was a promise that could never be kept over the long term and today, states and municipalities are facing trillions of dollars of unfunded public pension obligations. There needs to be a restructuring of these obligations, but doing so will not be easy and will take sound economic, as well as political decisions.