A fiscal crisis is looming for many US cities

(theconversation.com)

Comments

Workaccount2 22 hours ago
Not all, and they are rarer today, pensions were totally insane back in the day.

One of my mothers friends, who is now in her 80's, has been retired on a pension for over 40 years. She started working for her municipality right out of high school at 18, and worked 25 years as a clerk to get a full pension. Retired at 43(!) with 75% final pay (annually adjusted) and lifelong medical benefits.

Its totally insane and completely unsustainable. Back in the day people usually keeled over at 65 and the US was viewed as having achieved infinite growth forever, so perhaps back then it was a reasonable but generous offer. Today however it's just straight up corruption and waste to offer benefits like that.

kylehotchkiss 22 hours ago
I always see the words pensions in civic deficit news. I'm early 30s and pensions are a concept that nobody my age or younger will ever benefit from yet is footing the bill for.
apsec112 22 hours ago
San Francisco's budget is around $15 billion, which is larger than that of many states, for a population of around 800,000
bloopernova 22 hours ago
In my opinion, climate change causing more and more overwhelming* weather events, this issue is going to get worse.

*overwhelming in the sense of responders/budgets/planners unable to mitigate the effects of worse weather.

It's partly why I'm so "doomer" about climate change. The secondary effects of these weather events are already difficult to manage. What happens when we experience mass migration of humanity, or even worse storms?

For example, Kentucky USA has an average year-to-date precipitation of 6 inches. In 2025, that has increased to 12 inches. Yes that's one year, but it only takes one major event to wreak havoc on a poorer town or state.

jmclnx 22 hours ago
Yes, and with the current admin. cutting everything, it will not be pretty.

But except for Police and Fire, I thought pensions were gone for all other City Employees, replaced by a 401k.

kkfx 20 hours ago
Ladies and Gentleman's: cities cost MORE than spread living despite the many PR who state the contrary with ONLY APPARENT logic. Under-utilize large buildings for less than 12h/day commuting between them was needed in the past but it's a nonsense today. Small buildings consume much less raw materials than bigger one for equivalent usable space for humans because we have to sustain the mere structure, with anti-seismic norms, fire safety norms, elevators, ... who cost MUCH. They are inefficient to heat and cool with modern heat-pumps as well. They pollute more.

Cities are nowadays only needed to push 2030 Agenda where the inmates do not own nothing and live consuming anything, no matter how they earn, to be always at zero and such need is not practically sustainable.

That's is. The rest is noise.