Bond sale not enough to help Illinois plans, Moody's says

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

The combined funded level of Illinois’ five state retirement systems would weaken further, even if the state issues some $4 billion in pension obligation bonds to finance its required annual contributions, according to a Moody’s Investors Services report on Monday.

An anticipated issue of eight-year general obligation bonds to pay the state’s pension contributions for the current fiscal year to the state systems “would at least limit deterioration in the funded status of the state’s pensions, which are the lowest-funded among states,” the one-page report said. “Nonetheless, we expect the state’s pension funded ratios to weaken further before improving, given that statutory contributions are below the actuarially determined amounts needed to amortize the plans’ unfunded liabilities.”

It gets expensive when you have to support retired pe teachers who make in the high 5 figures.