HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A potential $140 million surplus in state reimbursements for Pennsylvania's school district pension costs should be plowed back into the pension system to help cover the mushrooming taxpayer share of the costs, Democratic leaders in the Pennsylvania Senate said Monday.

The Public School Employees' Retirement System has reported that shrinking school-district payrolls left $69 million in state reimbursement funds unspent in the year that ended June 30. Officials say the trend appears to be continuing this year and that the surplus could double by the end of the current fiscal year.

The state reimburses school districts for an average 56 percent of their pension contribution and, if payrolls shrink, so do the reimbursements.

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