SAN DIEGO -- The chair of the San Diego Pension Reform Committee told the City Council that $202.6 million needs to be paid into the pension fund just to keep the $1.1 billion deficit from growing.

The amount is about $70 million more than officials expected to pay into the San Diego City Employees Retirement System in the fiscal year that begins July 1, committee Chair April Boling said Monday.

The money is needed "just to stop the bleeding," Boling told the council.

Councilman Scott Peters blamed the pension problems on market performance.

"Had market values stayed where they were in 1988, we wouldn't be having this discussion of underfunding," Peters said.

Boling said the market simply "took back everything that it gave."

In February, two major Wall Street credit-rating agencies downgraded the city's bond rating, while the FBI, Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney's Office began investigating city finances, including the city's pension system.

Councilwoman Donna Frye questioned why city officials allowed the underfunding of the pension system.

"When you continually put in less than what is owed, I don't think it takes a lot of mathematical genius to understand that eventually you will find yourself in the position we're in today," Frye said.

Boling said the Pension Reform Committee will present a full report on the city's pension fund sometime in May. The council must approve the fiscal 2004-05 budget by the end of June.