The bill to provide outsized pensions to government workers in Oregon is coming due.

A new report on the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) says that contributions to the fund will need to increase $885 million in the 2017-19 biennium. Such massive increases are projected for subsequent years as well.

The increases are the result of providing public employees with pension benefits far beyond Oregon’s ability to pay.

The campaign to raise taxes to continue this largess has begun. Gov. Kate Brown last week endorsed Measure 97, a $3 billion-a-year general sales tax increase disguised as a toll on large corporations.

The governor said the tax is necessary to provide stable support for schools and other government services. If our governor were as transparent as she claims to be, she would admit the obvious: Measure 97 raises taxes to underwrite PERS.

Gov. Brown’s smokescreen became apparent in April. She avoided mention of the PERS crisis in her State of the State address then later told a reporter: “There isn’t a path forward” to reform the retirement system.

The reality is quite different. Oregon’s Supreme Court predictably struck down in 2015 bipartisan legislation that reduced benefits already earned by state employees. However, the justices made clear that future benefits could be changed.

Among the available options:

• Reduce the assumed rate of return on PERS investments. Currently, participants are guaranteed a 7.5 percent return. Returns should match market rates.

• Require participants to contribute to PERS. That’s the case in most private-sector retirement plans. While public employees are required to contribute to a second benefits plan, that benefit is often paid by taxpayers via the employer.

• Change the retirement age. The federal government adjusted the retirement age to protect Social Security. Oregon should do the same. The average state worker retires after 22 years of service and earns a PERS benefit equivalent to 56 percent of their final average salary. Those who retire after 30 years received 81 percent of their final average salary. Astonishingly, 7 percent of PERS retirees earn more in retirement benefits than they did while working.

• Cap earning levels. Mike Bellotti receives $513,612 annually in retirement benefits as the former athletic director and football coach of the University of Oregon. There’s no logical reason state taxpayers should foot the bill for such gold-plated state workers in the future.

These reforms would reduce the cost of PERS and ensure its long-term sustainability. They would also allow our schools and local governments to spend more to address real needs without raising taxes.

Instead, Gov. Brown is doing the bidding of Oregon’s public employee unions, who are heavily financing Measure 97. These same unions are pouring money into Brown’s election campaign and to those of legislative leaders.

They, not school children, are the true beneficiaries of Measure 97.