Recently I’ve been reporting more studies that rank CA the 2nd, 3rd or 4th worst in various fiscal comparisons with other states. I imagine you are as sick of this dreary drumbeat as I am.
Good news! Finally I found a study where California is not ranked in the top four – as in worst four.
. . .
Ya know, it’s not fair — youse Rostra readers just KNOW what’s coming next, don’t ya. Bunch of smart asses.
Sigh.
To my point. A new wonky academic study has been released, comparing the per household state and local government pension obligations. It’s a grind to work through the 60+ pages of the study — even I didn’t read it all, or understand the actuarial math.
Let’s get to the bottom line. As you weisenheimers cleverly deduced, CA is not in the worst four — but we are number five.
And here’s the figure to consider — if we make no reforms, then the average CA household will ANNUALLY owe $2,122.40: See Table A4 (the last page).
As the Big Spenders love to intone — “It’s only pennies per day!” 581 pennies per day, to be exact.
The range of the obligation by state is interesting. The top obligation is owed by Ohio households — $2,552.90. Then comes Oregon, New York and Illinois — with California bringing up the rear — of the top five.
Perhaps equally interesting is the pension cost increase for households in the least fiscally irresponsible (not necessarily fiscally responsible) states — Arizona, West Virginia, Arkansas, Utah and (the best) Indiana. Households in these states owe amounts varying from $544 to $237 annually — about 1/4 to 1/9 the average annual CA household obligation.