CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- In addition to those state agencies instructed to cut their budgets by 7.5 percent next year, all state agencies will have to shift funds to cover an increase in the employers' share of employee pensions.

That's because the state pension funds failed to grow by a required 7.5 percent annually during the 2011-12 budget year, state Budget Office Director Mike McKown confirmed Tuesday.

"The actuarial assumption is 71/2 percent, and we only earned somewhere between zero and 2 percent," he said.

In his letter to state agency heads ordering spending cuts, Revenue Secretary Charles Lorensen noted, "Increased funding will also be needed for our retirement systems because investment returns last fiscal year were below the actuarially assumed 7.5 percent."