What to know about the NJ Pension Loan: The New Jersey Pension Fund Source Breitbart News
- September 21, 2021
New Jersey’s public pension system has a $1.2 trillion debt that is now due to balloon payments.
The state’s state budget deficit is projected to balloon to $1 trillion in 2019, and that number will balloon to almost $2 trillion by 2024, according to the New Jersey Division of Finance.
The state has borrowed from private investors to pay its bills, but the bonds are considered too risky to be sold, according the New York Times.
In June, New Jersey legislators agreed to sell a $300 million bond in a public auction, but it was sold only at a premium.
The New Jersey Public Employees Retirement System is expected to pay out $400 million to $500 million in bond payments this year, according CNNMoney.
The pension fund was created in 1974, but since then has struggled to make payments, and in the past has not paid its promised pension payments.
In 2014, the state paid $3.8 billion in pension contributions, but that payment was only made in 2019.
According to a report from the Center for Public Integrity, the $1,700 annual fee for each NJPERS bond that was issued in 2018 is “far higher than the state pays to private bondholders,” and has contributed to the pension fund’s debt.
