unfunded pension liabilities by two thousand and twenty something that seemed to be the overarching message of an october pension report conducted by the warrant committee and presented on the public forum wednesday october twenty eighth pensions are defined benefit plans that provide retirement income for town employees not including teachers according to the report the town is amassed seventy four million in unfunded liabilities debt the town has already incurred with a funded ratio of fifty one percent this means the town has roughly half the assets on hand to cover its pension liabilities one of the lowest funded ratios among other aaa rated communities in the state in the early ninety's towns were not properly putting money into the pension system that should have said michael levenson chairman of the our committee over the last ten years belmont has done a good job digging itself out of the hole the town is set up position schedule to chip away at the debt with payments increasing by seven percent each year in fiscal two thousand and sixteen the town will contribute a total of seven point nine million for pension cos roughly six point five three million for amortization payments and other roughly one point three five million to cover pension costs for current retirees  twenty twenty seven the yearly amortization payment will surpass fourteen million with total contribution close to sixteen point five million the payment plan is the most aggressive among the aaa rated communities acknowledged by town meeting member dan barry and why aren't committee member greg menace who is also director of public sector retirement systems at the pew charitable trusts spending large amounts to pay off debt each year is going to squeeze the budget this is inevitable said menace because belmont only experiences two point five to three point five percent revenue growth each year while pension debt payments will increase by seven percent levenson also cautioned that the amortization schedule is just a projection belmont's retirement bort an independent body that has the final say on how the pension system is funded manages belmont's pension assets w seven percent growth is expected if the assets grow at a slower rate say five percent the town will not pay off all its debt until after twenty twenty seven on the contrary if the assets grow at a faster rate debt could be paid off sooner than twenty time the twenty seven set limits on the town is that your darley required to pay off its pension liabilities by twenty forty the october report also examine the possibility of funding the pension liabilities less aggressively through a pension obligation bond which has been discussed previously through this mechanism the town would issue a bond and invest the proceeds in a pension investment fund if the investment returns exceed borrowing costs long term costs can be reduced however report noted that the market losing money is a pension obligation bonds are not commonly used to menace there is more than ten percent possibility of losing money on the transaction at ten days at the f also got a glimpse of the town's long term financial plan when and jensen a town meeting member asked how the unfunded pension liabilities fit in with the town's other post employment benefits o p e b unfunded liabilities which relate to retire e health insurance the current unfunded o b e be liabilities sit on a whopping one hundred seventy one million dollars o p e b liabilities are a problem shared by most commit most most communities in the state currently the town contributes a small amount to from o p e b costs for current retirees which is known as the pleasure go method many communities including belmont are waiting to see if the state will find a solution before making more aggressive payments once the pension liabilities are paid off in the twenty seven we want to start to make larger payments on town to the chicago org word of williams correspondence with spread to some residence notably to williams campaign manager who sat in for a phone call between williams and the bank frankly jeff with all due respect to share what i believe a confidential document with a former camp and other support their lobbying us state the town has an emergency ations get to pay off the pension debt by twenty twenty seven making payments that start at roughly point five three million dollars this year transportation from seven to eight thirty pm nov sixteenth at the big street center to sixty six beach street the purpose of the meeting is to provide updated information about where really commuter commuter rail station and potential options to bring the facility into required compliance with the americans with disabilities act regulations and the future of the belmont center station and a possible belmont station live on pleasant street this meeting is an opportunity for the public to provide ideas to the m b t and a resident or community member may attend the well belmont celebrates national cosell assume us reading little victories perfect rules for imperfect living is sure to make your chuckle being funny comes naturally to the author jason gay who are often cross street in belmont and is now a sports columnist for the wall street journal gay reebok in his hometown on nov twelfth of the belmont public library to talk about his new book which hit the shelves just this week gay said he has always been mesmerized and amused by advice books especially the ones that give totally assured advice like three things for a better life for the twenty minute diet while the thirteen second work week i wanted to have some fun with the idea of such perfect advice since we're all imperfect well at least i'm imperfect said gay he said the idea at the center of his book is that life isn't always about the grander congressman or gold but often the pursuit of little victories very often it's the smallest things that make us happiest if i can get pants on the four noon on saturday that's a little victory said good in an interview with the belmont citizen herald recently ganser to a few more questions about his new book what do you hope readers will get from it i hope they can relate to it and see themselves in it but mostly i hope they laugh like hyena's what was the most challenging for you about writing this book my dad was diagnosed with cancer not long after i started working on it all of a sudden the message of little victories became very real for everyone in my family what's your favorite chapter and why i like them all how can you make me pick maybe i like the part about my failure to be cool if you remember me from bella you will know i was never cool and i still am not what is the main message of your presentation coming up on november draws of the belmont public library the main message is my mom wants a full house or i am going to be in serious trouble no i'm just excited to share the book with the belmont audience it was a great place to grow up and i am very proud to be from here even though you guys now have booze in restaurants