Dallas has launched an information hub to assist the public in keeping up with and understanding the city’s progress toward funding pensions for city employees, police officers and firefighters.

Ensuring the city’s two pension systems, one for civilian employees and one for police and fire, are adequately funded represents a commitment to taking care of those who serve our city. Offering up-to-date information about the ongoing planning to address funding shortfalls may help alleviate some uncertainty both in the public and for those considering joining the city in public service.

It’s also important to avoid spooking the public, or worse, the police and fire departments with news they aren’t expecting. This hub keeps a record of what’s happening with the pension fund and what the next steps are.

Dallas has invested in projects to improve transparency before, often to good effect. The residential permit and crime dashboards help residents keep up with how the city is performing in responsibilities that shape Dallas.

This pension information hub can have a similar effect. Pension difficulties continue to pose a credibility challenge for the city, and greater transparency surrounding it can only be a good thing.

While many residents may have heard something about the city’s pension problems here and there, it can be difficult to follow and understand. Thankfully, the information hub does more than track progress, it also provides background information and explanations of what the pension systems are and how they work.

The hub explains, for example, that there are two pension funds for the city to deal with. The Dallas Police and Fire Pension System, or DPFP, provides retirement, disability and death benefits for police officers and firefighters based on factors like rank and age. The Employee Retirement Fund, or ERF, does something very similar for other city employees.

If there’s one thing that could be improved, the hub could do with a little less financial jargon. Most people won’t understand the difference between actuarial value and market value relative to the funded portion of each pension, so it would be better to explain those things in simpler English alongside the technical information available.

On the hub, a letter from Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins promises a fiscally responsible plan by this fall. In 2017, the pension fund was at risk of complete collapse. The state stepped in and passed a stopgap measure to prevent that from happening, but stipulated that the city must come up with a 30-year plan to fully fund it within 7 years.

As it stands, it looks like Dallas will be able to meet that deadline, and the information hub will help residents follow its progress as it moves forward.

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