The board is scheduled to discuss its options regarding Proposition B this Friday.
The actuary, Gene Kalwarski, estimates the city will need to pay out $11.84 billion in pension benefits and that the value of the pension system’s investments and other assets is $9 billion — leaving the $2.84 billion gap. But Kalwarski said the primary driver of the higher payments was larger-than-expected pay raises and an increase in the number of employees eligible for pensions.
Labor deals struck last spring give most city workers raises between 4.5 percent and 5 percent this fiscal year — substantially larger than the 3.05 percent per year Kalwarski projects for each city worker.