Houston Police Officers' Pension System filed suit to force the City of Houston to contribute $53 million to the $2.3 billion system, confirmed Amy Beberniss, the system's communications director. In a news release, the plan's co-counsel, Robert R. Burford of the Houston law firm of Gibbs & Bruns, said the contribution is mandated by Texas state law and that the pension fund would be forced to liquidate assets to continue paying benefits if it didn't receive the contribution.
Frank Michel, a spokesman for Houston Mayor Bill White, said city and pension fund negotiators continued to work on an agreement about pension benefit levels and contributions, and added Mr. White sees the lawsuit as "a negotiating tactic." Mr. White allocated $13.6 million for the contribution in his fiscal 2005 budget and has said he plans to contribute another $22.9 billion from the proceeds of a planned pension obligation bond issuance in the future.
