Pennsylvania's cities and towns face a pension crisis as dire as the one facing state government and they need help from the Legislature, a trio of urban mayors said Monday.

''We need to reform and we need to do so now,'' Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said at a news conference.

''We in local government are tightening our belts and doing more with less. This issue has been creeping up on us and will continue to creep up on us.''

Ravenstahl, along with Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski and Reading's Tom McMahon, sketched out a plan that includes consolidating the state's 3,100 pension systems.