MORE ON THOSE UNDERFUNDED / OVERGENEROUS PUBLIC PENSION FUNDS:

Governor Carcieri has cut the state’s work force to its lowest level in recent memory, leaning heavily on a change in retirement benefits that pushed hundreds of workers into retirement earlier than they had planned.

But the exodus has put an unexpected strain on Rhode Island’s public retirement system.

There are now fewer active employees paying into the pension system and more people collecting retirement payments than had been predicted.

The result is a projected hole of $20.4 million that Rhode Island taxpayers will make up in the coming year. That price tag may be offset by savings this year, but the jump in those collecting pensions also adds $33 million to the retirement system’s already massive unfunded liability, according to a report by the state’s actuary, Texas-based Gabriel Roeder Smith & Company, that was made public yesterday.

The problem is likely to get worse.