A city official once described Philadelphia's pension system as analagous to the 50s horror flick "The Blob" about an alien life force resembling...well, a blob...that landed near a small town. Teenagers who saw The Blob tried to warn towns people that it was (a) growing and (b) ate everything in its sight. They refused to listen or believe. Quick cut to Mayor Nutter's new budget, due to be unveiled this week. It contains a huge jump in city contributions to its pension fund. Why? Because the fund has underperformed -- earning an average of only 3 percent a year over the last 10 years, and because previous mayors shortchanged it when it came to making regular payments. Now, as Bob Warner
reports in the (March 1) Daily News, the fund has a $5 billion unfunded hole that must be filled. And city payments are expected to jump significantly in future years. Ladies and gentlemen, The Blob has arrived.
