Curt W. Olson
COlson@TexasBudgetSource.com

Texans want to know how much government costs them.

And they have every right to know.

One area of government receiving more intense scrutiny is public employee pensions.

Texas Budget Source is excited to launch a new project that will help Texans understand what public-employee pensions — specifically defined-benefit pension plans — cost them.

Texas Budget Source is an online publication that focuses on fiscal transparency of state government, municipalities, schools, higher education, transit agencies and special districts. The website also focuses on open government, such as access to public documents.

The Texas Pension Calculator in the $ icon on the home page — www.texasbudgetsource.com — will allow people to search for a specific salary — and even a specific public employee currently in the list of more than 800,000 public employees. The list will grow as more data becomes available.

The Pension Calculator also explains the methodology for arriving at the estimate of someone’s pension, or the pension for a position.

Texas Budget Source joins New York, Ohio, and Maine with an organization providing a Pension Calculator to taxpayers.

We encourage you to check it out and spread the word to others.

Whether you are new to the website or a loyal reader we thank you and trust you will bookmark it as a regular place to gather information about government(s) in Texas.