The size of New York City’s pension shortfall is in dispute because of profound disagreements among actuaries over how to value pensions, the New York Times reported today. The city’s chief actuary, Sherry Chan, used the traditional actuarial approach to report a shortfall of $65 billion last year. The Manhattan Institute, a research center focusing on urban affairs and domestic policy, prefers market values, which put the shortfall at about $142 billion, more than twice the city’s shortfall estimate. The city’s contributions more than quintupled while Michael Bloomberg was mayor and have continued to rise under Mayor Bill de Blasio. As a share of the budget, they have long since passed fiscal-crisis levels. The city now says that it will take another 15 years to close the shortfall.
