CSLGE Study: Texas Cities' Contributions to Employee Pensions Among Lowest in Country

For Immediate Release
Contact Joe Gimenez, 713.478.8034
Houston (Nov 5, 2013)

CSLGE Study: Texas Cities' Contributions to Employee Pensions Among Lowest in Country

The Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (TEXPERS), which represents 75+ pension systems for police, firefighters and municipal employees across the state, congratulated the 10 Texas cities that were among the country's most efficient users of taxpayers' dollars for their employees' pensions, as asserted in a new study by The Center for State and Local Government Excellence.

The CSLGE study, "Gauging the Burden of Public Pensions on Cities," asked: "How much do residents of a city pay for pensions-not just for city pensions, but also for school district and county pensions in their jurisdictions?"

To answer their question, CSLGE researchers used data from 173 cities around the United States and found that pension expenses average 7.9% of those cities total tax revenue base.

The 10 Texas cities included in the study were among the bottom half of CSLGE's 173 city sample, paying the least amount as a percentage of taxpayer revenue to their pensions. The Texas cities included in the CSLGE study and their rank in the country were Houston (85th in nation), El Paso (102), Corpus Christi (112), Dallas (128), Fort Worth (132), Austin (141), Lubbock (150), Arlington (153), Garland (155) and San Antonio (161).

In fact, the pension expenses of the 10 Texas cities averaged 4.2% of their tax revenues, or 46% below the 7.9% national average. A chart with the Texas data is available on the TEXPERS blog (www.texpers.blogspot.com).

Max Patterson, the executive director of TEXPERS, said: "The CSLGE study confirms what we've been saying over the years: Texas' locally administered pensions are structured to balance what cities pay toward their employees' retirement benefits among all their other budget priorities. In Texas, pension expenses are not excessive when considered as a percentage of cities' taxpayer revenues."

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About TEXPERS
The Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (TEXPERS) is a statewide voluntary nonprofit association to provide quality education to trustees, administrators, professional service providers and employee groups and associations engaged or interested in the management of public employee retirement systems. Today, TEXPERS' member systems represent approximately two million active and retired participants and approximately $189 billion in assets. The foregoing reflects the inclusion of Texas statewide systems that belong to TEXPERS for educational purposes. Learn more at www.TEXPERS.org or www.TEXPERS.blogspot.com.