Extra pension payments mean big savings now -- and down the road

While Connecticut wiped out $1.25 billion of its massive, long-term pension debt this month, it still has decades to go to cover the remainder — nearly $40 billion.

But the one benefit will be felt right away. The supplemental payment frees up $110 million Connecticut now can spend annually on something other than its oppressive pension obligations, according to a new analysis.

“This is real relief that will both spare future generations from a legacy of pension debt and give short-term budget relief to taxpayers,” said Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo, citing new projections for the state employees’ pension system from Cavanaugh Macdonald Consulting of Kennesaw, Ga., the fund’s actuaries.

Lembo pressed legislators for several years starting in 2015 to increase savings toward the huge debts Connecticut amassed over more than 70 years in its separate pension systems for state employees and for municipal teachers.

Read more: https://ctmirror.org/2021/07/15/lembo-extra-pension-payments-mean-big-savings-now-and-down-the-road/