California news written for third graders

Here we have the Sacramento Bee making it simple for us little browns. 

Why California cities and counties should act scared by pension payments
BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD

This part we have figured out.

New Sacramento City Manager Howard Chan is putting together his first budget proposal, and you might think with the improving economy, he would be able to hand out cash to this program or that.
Instead, he’s warning department heads not to expect many of their pent-up requests, he’s focused on increasing revenue and cutting expenses, and he’s looking at least five years down the road.
There’s a very good reason: Higher pension costs are on the way because CalPERS lowered its expected investment returns. Sacramento’s additional payments are projected to rise from a manageable $3.2 million in 2018-19 to a frightening $29.4 million in 2022-23.

We have known for years that costs spiral when the boomers retire.  For most cities in California, bankruptcy is a given. The question is speading them out so we don't get the stampede.