Today news came out that NYC owes health benefits to its retired employees to the tune of ~99B! The source was the CAFR:
(Bloomberg) – New York City faces future health costs for its retired workers of $103.2 billion, an increase of $40 billion over a decade. It has about $5 billion set aside to pay the bill.
The so-called “other post-employment benefits” liability was disclosed in New York’s comprehensive annual financial report released by the city comptroller’s office Wednesday. The city’s $98 billion unfunded liability for retiree health care exceeds the city’s $93 billion of bond debt and $48 billion pension-fund shortfall.
“The numbers are huge,” said Maria Doulis, a vice president at the Citizens Budget Commission, a budget watchdog group funded by the business community. “If you’re looking at the big three liabilities, this is the one that’s problematic, because there’s nothing set aside to address this and there’s absolutely no strategy on the part of the city.”
I went looking for NYC CAFR and started perusing it when I blanked out!
Question: How does one figure out such key information from the CAFR?
I looked at the 'Introduction', 'Financial' and 'Statistical' sections but only when one looks really hard, does it come across as something is not right, for e.g.: "As of June 30, 2018, the most recent actuarial measurement date, the funded status was 4.6%. The total OPEB liability for benefits was $103.3 billion, and the plan fiduciary net position was $4.8 billion, resulting in a net OPEB liability of $98.5 billion".
Question: So, what are the key numbers in the CAFR we need to pay attention to when narrowing down on a city for Out-Of-State investment?
