Opinion

The bleeding statewide

Here are some numbers to choke on: New York City’s annual public-pension costs have risen from $1.5 billion a decade ago to a staggering $7.8 billion today. The $6.3 billion difference is more than what City Hall will spend on the NYPD and FDNY next year — combined.

Municipal-pension spending has soared an astounding 499 percent, according to a new report from NY Leaders for Pension Reform, a bipartisan group of mayors and county executives lobbying Albany to pass Gov. Cuomo’s pension-reform plan.

The city is hardly alone.

The overall burden on local governments has soared 630 percent since 2002, and every corner of the state is suffering, according to the NY Leaders Web site:

North Country: Up in Plattsburgh, pension costs have rocketed 1,228 percent.

Southern Tier: In Jamestown, pension costs have soared 1,429 percent.

Western New York: In Monroe County, pension costs have shot up 1,111 percent.

Central New York: Onondaga County’s costs have exploded 3,020 percent.

Hudson Valley: In Orange County, costs have gone up 2,990 percent.

Long Island: Suffolk County’s costs are up 904 percent.

It would be bad enough if pension costs were merely doubling the rate of inflation — about 30 percent since 2002. But in Onondaga County alone, the costs have shot up at almost 100 times inflation.

It’s self-evident that the current regime must change — which is why it’s vital that Albany pass Gov. Cuomo’s Tier VI pension plan, nudging up the retirement age and employee contributions.

The common-sense plan only affects new hires — but the projected savings are real money: as much as $80 billion over the next 30 years. Always assuming, of course, that Albany’s corrupt culture won’t sweeten benefits in coming years.

Speaking of corruption, New York’s public-employee unions are up to their old tricks. They’ve been busily buying up members of the Legislature (Albany Dems get 20 percent of their campaign contributions from public-sector unions) to try to derail the pension-reform process.

Reform-minded New Yorkers shouldn’t rule that out.

They need to urge Cuomo to stand firm on his pension-reform plan. Localities from Long Island to Lockport are looking to him for relief.