Palmetto State News

The earnings on investments for South Carolina public pensions dropped from $3.3 million in 2018 to $620,282 in 2019, according to data obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Public Pensions.

The Census Bureau’s survey includes public pensions sponsored by local and state government entities with employees who are compensated with public funds. The local governments include counties, townships, school districts and special districts.

The data gathered includes revenues, expenditures, financial assets, membership and liabilities information.

Residents in Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming do not pay state income taxes.

The Census Bureau cautions that not all respondents answer all survey questions. Thus, some fields were left blank.

South Carolina reported data from nine pension systems, including four state-level pension funds and five local-level systems. The total number of pension system members was 585,956 (584,996 at the state level and 960 at the local level).