Nightmare In Deep Ellum: How Pension Obligation Bonds Ruined Dallas Employees’ Retirement Dreams
28th October 2016
Like the victims in any good horror film, officials in Dallas, Texas, find themselves in a situtation that was entirely avoidable—if only they’d realized it before it was too late.
In 2005, Dallas issued a $500 million bond that was supposed to plug the leaks in its police and fire pension system.
Now, just more than a decade later, the city is scrambling to prevent a “run on the bank” that’s threatening to bankrupt the pension system before 2028. By one count, more than $200 million was withdrawn from the system in less than six weeks as Dallas’ police and firefighters are making a run for it—yanking their investments out of the system that’s teetering on the edge of collapse.
As with all big cities in Texas, Dallas is (and always has been) run by Democrats.