Many Florida cities will run out of retirement funds

Fewer people are moving to Florida, according to a recent report, and the news that many cities across the state will be unable to afford to pay employee retirement benefits may further decrease that number.

A number of cities across the state already are facing a retirement deficit, as they owe more in pensions and health benefits than they have set aside for employees, according to the Miami Herald.

Miami, one of the worst offenders, had only set aside 74 percent of the amount they owed in benefits for retirees in 2009. Other areas with major retirement funding deficits include Bradenton, Hollywood, Hialeah, Cape Coral and Titusville, according to the Herald.

The problem may have arisen because many Florida counties never fully paid their retirement pension accounts, but instead used investment returns to supplement the expense, the source said. Now that the recession has reduced returns, these counties have found themselves having to spend more to make up for the owed funds.

Carol Weissert, director of the Collins Institute, which released the report, told the source that the fact that the "revenues [are] constrained," makes having to put more than ever towards retirement "a double-whammy."

Overall, Florida has been struggling during the recession and was listed as one of only five states where economic stress did not decline in 2010, according to the Associated Press.  

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