Administration November 19, 2010

KY Counties, Cities to Pay More into Pensions

November 19, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Kentucky Retirement Systems Board of Trustees announced increases to next fiscal year's contribution rates into the County Employees Retirement System (CERS).
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Beginning on July 1, local governments will contribute 18.96% of non-hazardous duty employees’ salaries to the pension fund, up from this year’s 16.93% rate. They also will contribute 35.76% for hazardous duty employees, such as police and firemen, up from 33.25%, according to a news report on Cincinnati.com.   

The pension contribution rates have doubled since 2004, according to the Kentucky League of Cities, which estimates next year’s increases will cost cities $17 million overall, the news report said.  

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Across Northern Kentucky, the contribution hikes reach into the six figures. Covington will pay nearly $500,000 more than this year. Boone County’s pension contribution, now roughly $4.6 million, will rise by about $430,000 next fiscal year.  

Since 2004, lawmakers have enacted reforms such as requiring employees to contribute a percentage of their pay toward retirement, and reducing pension benefits for future hires, but some officials have called for further reforms – especially to health care benefits, which make up an increasingly large part of pension costs.  

CERS is separate from the Kentucky Employee Retirement System (KERS) for state government employees and requires local governments to fully fund the pensions, unlike KERS, which faces a $6 billion shortfall, according to the news report. 

Compliance November 19, 2010

NH Retirement System Appealing Order to Release Retiree Names

November 19, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The New Hampshire Retirement System has filed an appeal of a court ruling that it disclose the names of pension recipients.
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In September, a superior court judge ordered the system to release the names of the 500 pension recipients who received the highest payments in 2009. The Manchester Union Leader newspaper sought the names under the Right-to-Know Law.  

However, NHRS says the court misinterpreted the Right-to-Know law in the ruling, noting that the law refers to public employees and the retirees are no longer public employees, according to the Foster’s Daily Democrat. The NHRS maintains that releasing the names of pension recipients would be a violation of those recipients’ right to privacy. 

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The system has posted a list of information on more than 23,500 pension recipients displaying the adjusted gross pension amount, the benefit type and the last position the retiree worked.  

“We chose to post the individual pension amounts online, without names, because we believe it gives the public relevant information regarding the levels of benefits and pension policy in a way that does not compromise the privacy rights of our retirees or their beneficiaries,” said NHRS Executive Director Dick Ingram in a statement, according to the news report.

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