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The road best traveled for the city’s pension funds

The number for 2019 is $4.5 million.

That’s how much spending in the next city budget is set aside for the pension funds of Williamsport police, firemen and officers and employees.

The amount approved by City Council is $500,000 more than it was this year.

The good news is that the city is making progress paying off the amortization, or “mortgage,” of the pension fund and is reaching close to 90 percent fully funded for unionized police, firemen and officers and employees.

That is a much better pension fund status than many municipalities and states are experiencing.

Less fortunate is the cold reality – catching up on pension funding requires an outsized allocation from the city’s General Fund and is the main reason there is no wiggle room in the city budget. And it’s a big reason why tax increases loom for city taxpayers even when everything is going right with the city budget.

And the alternative is even more unsavory. If the city falls far behind in pension payments, the makeup costs would be catastrophic. Other services would have to be cut back to make the payments and keep the city solvent and already strapped local taxpayers would take an additional hit they can’t afford.

With the full scope of the pension pickle in mind, it’s very important that City Council and the administration keep a close eye on the management of city funds that are invested to make sure the return is being maximized.

The pension funds need to grow at a maximum rate.

Healthy growth of the funds through investments is the ultimate salvation for the city’s pension difficulties.

Healthy allocations, vigilant management, strong returns on investments: It’s a tough, long, arduous path to solving the problem, but it’s the one that makes the most sense for the city’s pension funds.

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