Pension Contributions

Not an agency but a budget line item representing the city's annual required contributions to five pension funds covering current and retired city workers including teachers, police, firefighters, and civilian employees. This $7B annual bill is essentially a non-negotiable IOU to 750,000+ current and former city workers. It crowds out spending on services and grows when investment returns disappoint. You can't cut it, you can't defer it, and it's one of the biggest reasons the city is always strapped for cash.