Pension story from American Police Beat

Court sides with cops on pensions
By Mark Nichols
The city of Lexington, Kentucky might have to fork over more than $30 million to shore up its pension fund for police officers and firefighters.
According to a recent article in the Herald Leader newspaper by Beth Musgrave, the state Court of Appeals sided with five police officers who sued the Urban County Government, saying the city has underfunded the police and fire pension fund.
The Court of Appeals decision upholds a December 2006 decision by Fayette Circuit Judge Gary Payne. Lexington Police Officer Tommy Puckett, a former pension board member and the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, estimated that the Urban County Government might have to pay between $30 million and $35 million in back payments to the pension system.
But he also cautioned that the number could be a low estimate. Puckett, a 35-year police veteran, said the decision, if it is upheld, will go a long way to ensuring that the pension fund pays pensioners what they’re owed. “As a public servant, we don’t make the best salaries, but we do get good benefits,” Puckett told Musgrave in an interview.
“This will ensure that the kids coming up after me will have pension.” According to 2006 estimates, the pension is approximately $220 million short, or needs $220 million to fund all current and future beneficiaries.
Records show that the pension fund has money for all of its current retirees but might not be able to meet its obligations 10 or 20 years down the line. Lexington is hardly the only municipality struggling to keep its pension system flush with cash.
State leaders are also struggling to find ways to pump more money into the state pension system that some estimate could be as much as $18 billion short.