Official: Pittsburgh pension funds on the rise

Pittsburgh’s employee pension funds are growing again after a loss of about $20 million in 2018, a pension official said.

The invested portfolio increased by about 2.6% from September 2018 through this September for an increase of about $33.7 million, according to the Comprehensive Municipal Trust Fund board of directors. The city has about 60.5% of funding necessary to cover $1.3 billion in current and future pension payouts to police, firefighters and municipal workers, according to information provided to the board during a quarterly meeting on Wednesday.

“The fund is in much better shape than it was in previous years thanks to the parking asset and thanks to this administration’s commitment to adequately fund our pension,” said Ralph Sicuro, who chairs the pension board.

The invested portfolio totaled $494 million in September. The parking asset, an actuarial value of future taxes dedicated to the fund over 30 years, totaled $293 million.

Mayor Bill Peduto’s administration has steadily increased payments to the pension funds. The mayor last month during a budget address to City Council pledged over the next five years to pump a total of $240 million above a state required minimum into the funds

Pittsburgh in 2010 narrowly avoided a state takeover of pension funds by dedicating parking taxes to put the funds above a state-mandated threshold of 50% of what was then $1 billion in obligations.

Pittsburgh’s pension fund in 2017 hit a high mark when the funding level reached 62.2%. The invested portfolio lost about $20 million in 2018 because of a market decline.