$3.2B benefits IOU draining Boston coffers

The Boston Herald reports:

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

“It’s the 500-pound gorilla no one wants to address,” said Sam Tyler, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau. “But in every budget going forward, this will be an issue.”