JEFFERSON CITY, MO. — Missouri’s public employee retirement plans generally are in better financial shape than those nationwide, though there is cause for concern about some, according to a state audit released Tuesday.

Auditor Tom Schweich’s report examined 89 public pension systems that are set up to pay defined benefits to 546,000 people who worked for state or local governmental entities. It found a wide discrepancy in the systems’ financial health, with some in “very good financial condition” and others in a “very poor financial condition.”

“Our pensions, by and large, are better managed than those nationwide,” Schweich said. “They have fewer problems, but there are still definitely some land mines out there, as far as future pension benefits go.”

Schweich placed 15 pension plans on an auditor’s “watch list” because of their finances, including those for the state transportation department and Highway Patrol employees and retirement plans for some public employees in Columbia, Joplin, Kansas City, Springfield and St. Louis County. They could be subject to additional, in-depth audits, he said.

Statewide, Missouri’s pension plans had combined actuarial assets of $57 billion and accrued liabilities of $73 billion at the end of 2012, resulting in an unfunded liability of $16 billion, the audit said. The plans were funded at 78 percent of the present value of their future retirement payments — down from 83 percent in 2003 but several percentage points better than nationwide figures.