Pensions and Property Rights in Municipal Bankruptcy
Virginia Law and Economics Research Paper No. 2014-08
Virginia Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper No. 2014-21
55 Pages Posted: 28 Feb 2014 Last revised: 13 Mar 2014
Date Written: February 26, 2014
Abstract
Recent large municipal bankruptcies raise legal and moral questions of the priority in payment of the municipality’s pension obligations. Focusing on existing law, we describe the bases on which pension obligations might have priority in bankruptcy. Priority under existing bankruptcy law requires that these obligations be supported by property rights effective outside bankruptcy. Section I identifies and rejects arguments that pension priority can be granted without property rights as part of Chapter 9 reorganization. Section II describes the requirement that pension priority be supported by property rights, identifies how statutory liens or trusts in favor of pensions can create priority, and describes the barriers to using these devices. A conclusion briefly describes revisions to the Bankruptcy Code that would allow pension priority, with or without property rights.
Keywords: Bankruptcy, Municipal Finance, Pensions
JEL Classification: G33, H55, H63, H74, K29
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation