ARTICLE
Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski scanned a room of local business owners sitting before him. "Raise your hand if you want to invest in Detroit," he said. The group chuckled. No one moved a hand. "No takers?" Pawlowski asked. For city leaders across the country the financial crisis in the nation's once booming Motor City has become a cautionary tale for municipal disaster. But much closer to home municipalities across Pennsylvania are facing their own financial crises, fueled in large part by pension obligations. The topic isn't sexy. Jargon like "minimum municipal obligation," "rate of return" and "actuarial valuation" punctuate pension discussions. But cities across the Lehigh Valley owe tens of millions of dollars for pension costs every year, and those expenses are only expected to increase. Concerns about those escalating obligations were the driving force behind a public discussion Wednesday including mayors of the Valley's three cities and several state lawmakers and officials, including Auditor General Eugene DePasquale. The panel, hosted by the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce at Lehigh Country Club, addressed the struggles that area cities have had with pension expenses and several pieces of proposed legislation at the state level to alleviate those burdens. Click here to read the article
Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski scanned a room of local business owners sitting before him.
"Raise your hand if you want to invest in Detroit," he said. The group chuckled. No one moved a hand. "No takers?" Pawlowski asked.
For city leaders across the country the financial crisis in the nation's once booming Motor City has become a cautionary tale for municipal disaster. But much closer to home municipalities across Pennsylvania are facing their own financial crises, fueled in large part by pension obligations.
The topic isn't sexy. Jargon like "minimum municipal obligation," "rate of return" and "actuarial valuation" punctuate pension discussions. But cities across the Lehigh Valley owe tens of millions of dollars for pension costs every year, and those expenses are only expected to increase.
Concerns about those escalating obligations were the driving force behind a public discussion Wednesday including mayors of the Valley's three cities and several state lawmakers and officials, including Auditor General Eugene DePasquale. The panel, hosted by the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce at Lehigh Country Club, addressed the struggles that area cities have had with pension expenses and several pieces of proposed legislation at the state level to alleviate those burdens. Click here to read the article