NY cities, towns incur big costs for retiree health

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York's counties, cities and towns will have to spend "tens of billions" of dollars on health care for retired public workers, the state comptroller said on Tuesday, issuing one of the first such estimates.

New York City was one of the very first to forecast this expense, and its $58 billion estimate tops the $50 billion estimate for the state.

"Add to that tens of billions more in other post employment benefits liabilities from local governments around the state, and the numbers are rather daunting," Democratic Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement.

By setting up a trust fund today, the state government could save $22 billion over the next 30 years, the comptroller said, announcing a bill for this proposal.

"We're facing difficult times, and the impulse may be to push this issue aside," DiNapoli said. "But almost two million working New Yorkers are counting on these benefits."

(Reporting by Joan Gralla; Editing by Dan Grebler)