Utica Finance Committee reacts to news from the State Comptroller
By
CAROLINE GABLE
Story Created:
Sep 2, 2010 at 8:40 PM EST
Story Updated:
Sep 3, 2010 at 8:02 AM EST
UTICA, NY (WKTV) - The State Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, is warning taxpayers will have to pay up in 2012, when it comes to the pensions of retired public employees.
The state pension fund is not recession proof, its taken a hit just like many peoples personal retirement plans have. As of June, the fund lost almost 4.5% and projections for the rate of return have also been lowered. This means government entities will need to contribute more into the pension system starting in 2012.
Utica Councilman Ed Bucciero calls it, "One more spoke in the wheel to deal with." Bucciero is a member of the Finance Committee and says even though the committee just learned of the news Thursday, they are already working on it.
"Our goal is to find money through consolidation, and budget cuts, and alternative sources of revenue, which this committee has been working on since the last budget, so that we can close the gap using those techniques," said Bucciero.
With many communities already facing tough times, raising property taxes to make up the difference, does not seem like an option. Its certainly one the Utica Finance Committee is hoping to avoid.
"It takes the economy a lot longer to climb out of a hole than it takes to fall in it," DiNapoli said.
Local lawmakers are now left trying to climb out of that hole. While the extra money may not be needed until 2012, they're crunching the numbers in 2010 to try and make ends meet.
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