N.J. Pension Fund Endangered by Diverted Billions

[Omaha Steve]

Source: N Y TIMES

N.J. Pension Fund Endangered by Diverted Billions

By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
Published: April 4, 2007

In 2005, New Jersey put either $551 million, $56 million or nothing into its pension fund for teachers. All three figures appeared in various state documents — though the state now says that the actual amount was zero.

The phantom contribution is just one indication that New Jersey has been diverting billions of dollars from its pension fund for state and local workers into other government purposes over the last 15 years, using a variety of unorthodox transactions authorized by the Legislature and by governors from both political parties.

The state has long acknowledged that it has been putting less money into the pension fund than it should. But an analysis of its records by The New York Times shows that in many cases, New Jersey has overstated even what it has claimed to be contributing, sometimes by hundreds of millions of dollars.

The discrepancies raise questions about how much money is really in the New Jersey pension fund, which industry statistics show to be the ninth largest in the nation’s public sector, with reported assets of $79 billion.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/nyregion/04pension.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Sounds as if NJ government has been embezzling the pensions

of public servants the way that the federal government has embezzled our social security accounts.

[Skink]

2. Could lead to some sort of Precedent if it gets litigated.

[lovuian]

4. I bet this is going on all over the country stealing pension

benefits from companies and Bush wants to steal Social Security

its crooks all of them

[Purveyor]

7. Seems like I heard talk of the federal pension funds being in a similar state

but that was a couple of years ago.

[Solo_in_MD]

3. Defined benefit pensions are ripe for this

which is one of the many reasons that defined contribution pensions are the way to go

[Skink]

5. Meaning that Social Security is as important than ever.

[LiberalEsto]

6. Thank rethug Christie Toad Whitman

She was governor when they started this crap.

I have a friend who teaches in NJ and she says teachers have been fighting this for years. She doesn't know how she will manage when she retires.

[I_Make_Mistakes]

8. It actually started with R-Thomas Kean (1982-90). It set D-Jim

Florio up for a big downfall.

This incident (Kean robbing the State Worker's pension fund) was the beginning to my Democratic conversion. They rob Peter to pay Paul, in the issuance of Property tax rebates, that was their election ploy. Thank God, Corz(s?)ine has come up with a REAL Property tax relief program that is paid for by REAL money!

[LiberalEsto]

9. Kean is really sleazy

All that preppy pseudo-British accent business of his. He tries to sound and seem really classy, but his hands are dirtier than the crooks who used to run Jersey City in their heyday. I knew Kean slightly before he became governor, when he was a commissioner on the NJ Highway Authority, which was on my reporting beat.