The City of Leon Valley is aware of the issues of the Texas Municipal Retirement System, as reported in the Feb. 7 issue of the Northwest Weekly, and says it’s undergoing an analysis of the situation and will take the appropriate measures for the next budget cycle.

“I don’t think it is a shortfall,” Lambert said. “They changed their formula.”

Last week, Prime Time Newspapers published that the state pension system used by most Texas cities is reporting a funding discrepancy that could make local communities responsible for millions of dollars in promised retirement benefits.

San Antonio alone faces $179 million in unfunded liability, according to city officials. In addition, the cities of Leon Valley, Helotes and Grey Forest are affected.

Lambert said that the cost of retirement funds could rise from 10 to 25 percent more than what they are currently paying.

“There are options to consider that may not affect employees,” he said.

One of the options, Lambert said, is to limit features such as the Cost of Living Increase (COLA) adjustment.

“They’re not guaranteed that they will be getting a COLA increase,” Lambert said.

Whatever changes take place will happen in the next budget cycle, he added.

As for the City Grey Forest, city secretary Shannan Kinsley said Mayor Don Darst is not concerned by the situation.

“He stated the City of Grey Forest has been happy with the services provided by the Texas Municipal Retirement System and we have no plans to do anything at this time,” she said.

Helotes Mayor Tom Schoolcraft said he was notified by TMRS on Feb. 8, and that he has forwarded the information to the city treasurer for an assessment. At this point, he said he won’t know how the city will be affected, if at all.

In all, 823 government entities statewide will see an estimated total $1.7 billion in unfunded liabilities in retirement benefits offered to city employees by the Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS). TMRS, founded by the Texas Legislature in 1947, is the state’s primary provider of municipal pension programs.

TMRS plans to have 100 percent of that amount paid back to the fund over the next 30 years, said Bill Wallace, TMRS director of communications.In publicized reports and e-mails to municipalities, his organization has emphasized that no retiree benefits are in any danger.