In 2014, $196 million in the Dallas’ police and firefighter’s retirement fund was lost due to risky investments. Houston is up against a shortfall of roughly $10 billion for its own pensions. Austin ranks in the top 15 United States cities with the largest pension liabilities, according to a report from Moody’s.

Texas’ largest cities have a major pension problem.

To develop a plan of attack against these financial woes, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, assigned the Committee on Pensions to study the implications of these problems in between now and the last session.

The committee's report, submitted Dec. 5 and published in January, identifies an older than expected population, unstable markets and municipal relationships full of strife as reasons behind the crisis.

If nothing is done, the committee report states pension plans will quickly become unsustainable and will run out of money to pay retirees.

Here are four solutions the pensions committee recommends to right the current situation:

1. Work with cities. All pension plans must work with individual cities to negotiate an agreement that balances the needs of members of the funds and taxpaying citizens.

2. Make up for missed payments. Missed payments and contributions should be made up through the use of pension obligation bonds or one-time payments.

3. Do not expect state support for funding holes. The committee recommends against one-time funding increases from the state to help overcome funding gaps.

4. Without action, severe solutions must be adopted. In the absence of agreements made between cities and pension funds, the committee recommends freezing cost of living increases until the plans are actuarially sound, reducing benefits, increasing contributions and requiring cities to make up missed contributions and freeze city pay until the plans are actuarially sound.

A number of bills are seeking to address pension fund woes, including SB 151, a bill filed by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, that would require municipalities to vote on any pension decisions.

View the full interim committee report here.