From the Boston Herald.com:
A staggering $3.2 billion IOU to pay off health and other benefits lavished on city worker unions has come due in Boston as the city grapples with a budget crisis that’s raising fears of massive layoffs and service cuts and even tax hikes for Hub residents and businesses.The huge payout – much of it incurred during the 15-year tenure of Mayor Thomas M. Menino – is forcing the city to more than double its spending on benefits over the next five years, to $220 million, or roughly one-tenth of its current $2.4 billion budget. . .
The $3.2 billion covers the current cost of health care and life insurance benefits promised to present and future city retirees. The tab is high because health care costs are soaring, which caused the IOU to grow more than $500 million in the past two years.