In court today, the General Retirement System of Detroit revealed that it had paid out nearly $1 billion dollars to retirees, active employees, and the city. The city of Detroit claims that these payments in the form of an extra, ?13th?, check given each year to retirees and active employees is a major reason why the pension fund is so underfunded. Detroit City Council in November banned the city?s General Retirement System (GRS), an organization charged with managing the city?s largest pension fund, from distributing 13th checks. The practice had been in place for so long that it was no longer considered a ?right? by the GRS, but rather a tacit agreement between the GRS and retirees, which cannot be revoked unilaterally.
See "Detroit workers receive $754M in pension fund?s 13th checks; retirees got $195M", Nathan Bomey, Detroit Free Press, October 1, 2013