The State Controller’s Office announced Tuesday that it has added financial data from California’s 130 public pension systems to its open data website, ByTheNumbers.sco.ca.gov.
The newly uploaded data shed light on the pension systems’ assets and liabilities, officials said. The site’s financial information currently covers an 11-year period — from fiscal year 2002-03 through 2012-13, and includes data on the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS).
The Controller’s Office noted it has been collecting and publishing financial statements of public pension plans for 35 years, and now that data is on the open data website.
“In the months ahead, California and its local communities will continue to wrestle with how to responsibly manage the unfunded liabilities associated with providing retirement security to police, firefighters, teachers and other providers of critical public services. Those debates and the actions that flow from them must be informed by reliable data that is free of political spin or ideological bias,” said State Controller John Chiang. “Toward this goal, my office is now providing a one-stop portal into the financial underpinnings of each of California’s 130 public pension systems. By pushing our state into the digital age of providing knowledge and information, I hope to empower greater citizen participation in how government handles a policy matter which is central to California’s long-term prosperity.”
