Excerpt: A report released yesterday by the Center for Applied Economics at the University of Kansas School of Business reveals that unless drastic changes are made to the structure of KPERS, the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, the system will be unable to pay out promised benefits, and the shortfall -- as much as $10 billion -- will fall onto taxpayers' shoulders.... The report said that though the recession has added to the decline of KPERS, the public pension fund was headed for bankruptcy before the recession because of structural problems. One main cause for concern is the level of unfunded liability within KPERS. Unfunded liability refers to the difference between promised benefits and the benefits that will be collected. These unfunded liabilities are thought of as a debt. The report concludes that 'KPERS is bankrupt under current operating assumptions' and points out that when utilizing the market value of assets, the total unfunded actuarial liabilities have more than doubled within the last year from $4.8 billion to $10.25 billion. Based on current data, these unfunded actuarial liabilities are expected to continue to increase.

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