Market Crash Pinches N.C. Pension for Teachers and State Employees

RALEIGH (By Sarah Okeson, Carolina Journal Online) - North Carolina has been among a handful of states to fund its pension program fully for public school teachers and state workers in recent years, but it will have to pay millions more this year and for years to come because of the recession and the downturn in financial markets.

To keep the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System fully funded, state Treasurer Janet Cowell asked the General Assembly to contribute an extra $29 million in the new fiscal year and $329 million more in the following year.

Projections show state and local agencies may have to boost the percentage of employee pay that they contribute to TSERS almost fivefold, from 3.36 percent in the 2008-09 fiscal year to 15.82 percent by 2015. The biggest previous state contribution was 10.03 percent in the 1980s.