The rising cost of public pensions threatens the fiscal stability of many American cities, including Philadelphia. As part of local and national efforts to address the problem, the Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) has invited experts from across the country to come to Penn on Tuesday, Nov. 11, with the goal of finding workable solutions.

The event, “Urban Fiscal Stability and Public Pensions: Sustainability Going Forward,” will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. in the 6th floor pavilion of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, and focus on one of the country’s most urgent urban issues: the financial health of cities.

Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate and finance at the Wharton School and co-director of Penn IUR, says the program “will provide a platform for discussion of what changes are necessary for the fiscal stability of our cities.”

Expert panelists will unravel the complex fiscal issues currently confronting a large number of U.S. cities, and discuss how urban areas can manage the legacy of under-funded pensions and develop strategies for long-term fiscal solvency.

The escalating costs of already under-funded pensions have created a dilemma wherein both the pensioners and city governments are having a hard time balancing their budgets. In addition, says Dana Lind, executive director of event co-sponsor Next City, “because of the way they affect local budgets, the rising costs of pensions will directly affect the services city governments can provide.”

Lind says this complex issue is an area of particular expertise for Penn IUR.

Wharton’s Olivia Mitchell and Bob Inman, world-renowned scholars for their work on pensions and urban fiscal issues, will speak on the first panel of the day, followed by practitioners who deal with pension issues on a day-to-day basis.

Amy Montgomery, managing director of Penn IUR, says that by bringing university professors and officials from city governments and federal agencies in dialogue together, “the program reflects Penn IUR’s mission to bridge scholars and practitioners on the issues that are most pressing to cities locally, nationally, and internationally.

“It also reflects Penn IUR’s effort to build knowledge that will help inform the development of the sustainable and inclusive 21st-century city,” she says.

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. For more information, visit the Penn IUR website.