Blog owners have the responsibility to “report” accurately. Much of blogging is opinion. However, when facts are discussed, a blog owner has the responsibility to report facts as accurately as possible and to correct when they are wrong. that is just common decency. We also feel the blog owners have to be careful not to harm people with what they say either through innuendo , statement, or suggestion.
We are most concerned over the fear mongering that is being spread about the pension funds. Funds from the county and the school board all go to VRS. The State mandates what is to be paid. The counties and school systems must follow that directive. State employees are also part of the system. I have read so much inaccuracy that it is impossible to correct at this point. How do you prove a negative?
The State of Virginia , initiated by the governor, has led the charge for fixing some of the glitches with the VRS. It has not fallen below a 7% return consistently for the past ten years as stated on the blogs, including this past year. In fact, for FY2011, VRS had an investment return of 19.1%. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out for yourself. The 8% is what the General Assembly counts on in its calculations. This is a problem when trying to piece together a complex problem. All the puzzle pieces don’t always fit. You end up with swiss cheese and Henny Penny. See the JLARC Report for the fit. ****
http://www.varetire.org/Publications/Index.asp?ftype=annualreport
Some of the confabulations given as fact are simply lies. Yes, VRS needs some fixing, but the system is not bankrupt and Prince William County is not bankrupt. VRS was one of the better pension funds nationally. There is no local pension fund. It all goes to Richmond. People who are in doubt should contact Eric Cantor’s wife. She is the chairman of the VRS Board of Directors. Senator Chuck Colgan also chaired the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. He is about as local as you can get.
Meanwhile, the Sheriff and John Gray, who the Sheriff quotes, need to get back on the reservation over this latest bit of swiss cheese reporting. There are so many holes in this one I simply don’t know where to begin. I usually don’t jump to defend the BOCS but in this case, they have not acted irresponsibly. the problem originates with the General Assembly that has not funded at the VRS recommended levels.
Hopefully, Melissa Peacor and Corey will address this issue at the beginning of the BOCS meeting on Tuesday. I can’t imagine the goal of this disinformation. The only thing I can think of is to continue the war on public employees and to make sure it now becomes local. More’s the pity. This is a complicated issue. Local blogs really have come up short in an effort to blast the local school board and Prince William County. I cannot explain it all and I won’t try. Others should not either. Put down the local pointing fingers. Let’s not blame public employees, Prince William County or Prince William County Schools.
Governor McDonnell’s VRS proposal in Dec. 2010
Richmond times Dispatch Updates on VRS 7/13/12
JLARC Report synopsis *****
**** perhaps the easiest to tie it all together.
UPDATE: There is one VRS. Within VRS are a number of sub plans including now Plan 1 and Plan 2 (depending on when one was hired)
Supposedly the plan in managed locally for county employees. (non school board) If that is the case, no wonder things are so out of wack. Too many bosses. I have no idea. Everyone is an expert. I will just cash my check. That sounds like the simplest thing.
I read both of those blogs and shook my head….if nothing else they prove how you can take any set of finance numbers or any statistic, and turn it in a way that sounds like it is all negative. What was never included, as you have done, is how the GA mangled the VRS, and now all local government entities participating in the VRS have a liability that must be paid – no board or council has any control over it.
What is also missing is how the Acturary sends out a report for the costs two years ahead….the current one was received in FY2012 and sets the costs for FY2013 and 2014. The two Cities also are hit with the rate increases, and for Manassas, it is a little over half a million bucks for each of those FY. The County information can be found on page 4 at this link:
http://www.pwcgov.org/government/dept/budget/Documents/12–Non-Departmental–00.pdf
Anyway you look at it, like you said, it is complicated even for somebody like me who has run government budgets for a variety of programs. Each year when it came to the Personnel Costs section (Salaries, retirement, etc etc etc), I always had to sit and do my homework to understand what the heck those line items were all about.
P.S. I do have to agree with the Sheriff the local tax payers end up with the bill. During the City’s budget process, much applause on my part to the City Finance Manager for clearly explaining the “why” behind it all….and the Council for being able to meet the mandate for VRS.
And also, within all those numbers, which version of the VRS are they talking about because there are two systems within the system.
By the way, there is no way this could have gone on so long without the Acturary determining the employer (in this case PWC and PWCS) being in default, and the VRS Board notifying the employer of such and removing them from the VRS. That is clear in the State Code. And if in default, the individuals participating in the plan would receive a check of what was in their VRS account.
Thanks for pointing out some of the finer points Ray. This is clearly not my area of expertise, as I stumble over my own feet trying to set the record a little straight.
I feel that public employees have come under enough criticism this year nationally. Also, I am more than willing to crawl all over supervisors but not for this one. I thought the local blog reports were very misleading.
VRS is very misunderstood by even its participants. Different jobs have different VRS rules. then, as you mentioned, there is Plan 1 and Plan 2.
It needs to be straightened out before we end up looking like New Jersey.
Question for you, do those numbers include employees paying in their 5%?
Again, thanks for your input. I want to fight off the forces of disinformation. This one is tough on a good day, impossible with disinformation out there.
And thanks for not laughing out loud over my efforts to do damage control. I know it sounds awkward and redundant.
One more question….lets say that any locality did go into default and the particpants got a check in the mail…would they get a check for the entire amount deposited in their name, regardless of who put it in there?
Without sounding like an echo chamber, the Sheriff and his source need to do a little more research before they cry that the sky is falling. As you noted, Moon, the % of salaries that PWCS pays to VRS for pensions is set by VRS. PWCS doesn’t have any choice whether to pay the rate or not – it is legally obligated to pay the rate set by the VRS.
The question no one seems to want to ask is why the unfunded pension liability increased so much over the past few years. That answer is simple and quite public, had the Sheriff’s source done proper research.
Several years ago, as most of us recall, the economy got kind of grumpy and home values collapsed. VRS also passed higher contribution rates. So, with the combined effect of higher pension costs and lower tax revenues, school division faced the very real possibility of laying off teachers and cutting services. I believe the most controversial cut proposed was eliminating the middle school sports program in PWCS.
Anyway, laying off teachers doesn’t look so good, so the VRS, under pressure from our elected officials, allowed localities to pay a lower contribution rate for a few years. Everyone knew this would increase our unfunded pension liability and that the deficit would have to be paid back sometime in the future, but the assumption was that the economy would be back on track by the time we had to pay it back.
Unfortunately the economy isn’t much better now, and it’s time to pay back the deficits. The VRS contribution rate doubled for the next fiscal year and will remain that high for a couple more years, at the minimum. The cost of that doubling was a $28 million increase in pension costs for PWCS for the 2012 – 2013 school year alone. That increased cost is part of the reason PWCS said there wasn’t enough money for raises for teachers for the next 5 years.
So, in short, the unfunded portion of our pension liability has increased significantly over the past few years. That increase was deliberate, intentional, and fully accepted by PWCS and every other school division in the area. The chose was made several years ago – layoff teachers or defer pension costs until a later date. The school division has now begun paying that deficit back and will continue to pay it back over the next few years.
Sorry – typo correction in the last paragraph. Chose should be choice.
Critical info from watchdog.org:
Smith said transparency would be the best reform the state could make.
“If the General Assembly and the governor are going to fund the retirement system at rates that are less than what the (VRS) board requests, then they should at least provide a fiscal analysis of the implications,” she said.
The General Assembly has total discretion to pay into the system. Under JLARC’s recommendation, lawmakers, for the first time, would have to put a price tag on their decision to underfund the pension system, including how much future liability would be created by the deficit. The move would allow taxpayers, state employees and lawmakers to get a better handle on the enormity of pension costs, Smith said.
The funding disparity is built into the way the General Assembly approaches contribution estimates.
The VRS assumes that every dollar put into the system will achieve 7 percent growth over a 30-years. The General Assembly puts that rate at 8 percent. Since the latter assumes larger growth, the General Assembly can make a smaller contribution into the system and technically still abide by actuarial standards.
Small actuarial variables make a big difference in approaching pension debt. The VRS is $19.9 billion in the red, according to state estimates. That number ballooned to $50 billion when economists looked at the debt through the lens of private-sector accounting standards.
Basically, the fund is underfunded. More money is owned to pensioners than vRS brings in. Is this because of greedy pensioners? NO. It is because the GA and gov. didn’t put enough money in.
They wanted to show off and look solvent. The fund hasn’t been at 100% since 2000. Things have gone down hill since then. It also isn’t all one party. McDonnell didn’t want to raise taxes or or not have Virginia look like hot stuff while the rest of the nation suffered. Remember all the time he was golden boy the fair haired child on Faux News? WEll…..pardon my pension, all that glittered wasn’t gold.
I don’t know how it will all be resolved. Since the counties have all done what they were told to do, it seems like it is the state that should be hustling some bonds and raising some taxes to fix the problem. It also won’t hurt employees to chunk in a little on their own. I know I sure did for for a few years, back in the day and I lived to tell about it.
There’s a ton of confusion on this issue. Contrary to what that idiot judge Dillon thought, the localities have been the responsible parties in this. I know that Manassas pays 100% of the actuarial estimate every year. The state, on the other hand, has not.
As for responsible blogging goes, what I see emerging are blogs whose sole aim is to advance a political agenda. Sometimes anonymous, sometimes not. Sometimes using pretty questionable information and using that as the basis for posts…also interesting that, while the “blogs” can advance an issue, they don’t appear to have much impact on the local elections.
“Contrary to what that idiot judge Dillon thought” whoa there, there are many of who strongly believe Judge Dillon knew what he was talking about when it comes to the practices of idiot local elected officials.
And there are many of us who think the idiots aren’t limited to the local level…:) I’m more or less conservative in philosophy (depending on who is doing the defining) and I think that those charged with the heavy lifting of government should have the leeway to govern.
In addition, there is little evidence that the Dillon rule makes local government more or less effective. If you’re open to using a states ranking in CNBC’s “business environment” rankings as a proxy for even-handed management, there is only 1 state in the top five that doesn’t allow some form of home rule: virginia. Of the bottom five, 2 are dillon rule, 2 are home rule and 1 is mixed. It ain’t perfect but I think it is representative.
I can’t find the survey right now but there was a management survey that provided similar results.
I don’t need to rely on “scholarly” evidence, I’ve seen the beneficial impact first-hand and have the used “Dillon Rule” periodically to prevent locals from overstepping. As to the idiots at higher levels, I’m on board with you but until elected out, thems who make the rules.
I just want the truth out there without calling out Corey Stewart or blaming the governor or any of that. The sky is falling solves nothing. The GA should have followed the advice of VRS. They short changed all of us. I don’t mean the Democrats or the Republicans. Everyone did because they didn’t want to be seen as “spending” or “raising taxes” or all the hot button issues that have been kicked around lately.
I wish some of the county people would weigh in…some of the people on the non school board side of the house who apparently get their VRS that way.
Kim S, is that what you are talking about?
Thank you Moonhowler for being responsible and the voice of reason. I fear you have little company in the blogging world at this moment.
Yes, the VRS is underfunded. If you want to blame someone, go to the Governor and the General Assembly and start blaming. The BOCS and School Board have nothing to do with that and can’t control what rate the Commonwealth sets for pension contributions. They pay what the state tells them to pay..
No the school system wasn’t more irresponsible than the county because their underfunded portion is so much higher than the county’s number. It is because of the number of employees. The state sets the rate and the county pays what the state says. If the county had as many employees at the same salaries as the schools’, then their number would be identical to the schools’ number.
No, the BOCS and the School Board were not involved in that underfunding anymore than they are involved in underfunding social security at the national level. Until last year they also paid 100% of whatever the Virginia actuary told them to pay. Just like they paid the federal government how much social security the feds said they have to pay. Last year the BOCS and the School Board got a break and were allowed to split their payment for 2010 and they are now paying that amount back.
AndyH is correct that the localities have paid into the system exactly what was asked of them. It is the Commonwealth that either didn’t calculate it right or didn’t pay their own portion of it right.
No, the local taxpayers are not responsible for paying back the portion of the underfunding related to underperformance since 2007 unless you look at local taxpayers as part of state taxpayers. They are only responsible for paying exactly what the state tells them to pay.
However the Commonwealth of Virginia is completely responsible for the underperformance of the fund between the expected rate of return and what the return really was. That means local taxpayers are in the boat with every other taxpayer in Virginia if the fund completely goes belly up. And if and when we ever do have to pay for this mess , we won’t be paying it through local taxes but through state tax increases or cuts in state services.
Last of all, it is laughable that the Commonwealth of Virginia would permit localities to just pay willy nilly whatever little amount they wanted into a system that the Commonwealth is responsible for paying out to the retirees. Does anyone really think the General Assembly that dictates every single portion of our lives down to which potholes get filled would actually allow localities that much lee way? Everyone should have known this story didn’t make sense from the get-go.
Welcome Queen of Hearts. Thanks for your contributions. More valuable information.
Your willy nilly comment made me laugh. Thanks–a point very well taken!
From Robley Jones, VEA Legislative Liaison:
(from July 13)[this would be the teacher end of VRS]
Moon,
Can we equate this problem to why people did not want social security privatized or am I way off?
Moon, according the State law, the taxes (naturally) come out, but yes, they get the amount deposited in their name.
@Elena
Actually, I don’t see that. In this case and others across the country, the state and local gov’t’s underfund pension because they don’t want to lock up that money. The feds just use the SS money in the general fund and pay it out of the general fund. The SS is a tax, not a pension fund. That’s why the feds resist privatization. Then it would be a pension fund with fiduciary responsibility to the owner. The gov’t has no such responsibility now. Want to keep it funded AND make it a fiduciary responsibility? Make all SS accounts into T-Bill accounts, inheritable, etc. The govt gets to spend your money and you get actual bonds.
Of course, you have to believe that the gov’t will actually pay those bonds…..or have to money to do so. But if it doesn’t, then its defaulting, not just deciding not to pay.
In any case, these pension funds are not in danger because of the market. They are in danger because of GOVERNMENT underfunding. The markets get your pension money regardless. The gov’t has to put it somewhere. They’re just controlling it instead of you.
@Cargo,
Local govt has no control over what the rate is. Underfunding is simply not setting aside enough money for the future. It is a bookkeeping abstract. It will eventually become a giant bite in the arse if it isn’t fixed. You are looking at the input of social security, not the output. Elena was asking an output question.
When you pay your own VRS, it is pretty much like paying a tax. You don’t have a choice. However, it is still a defined benefit, rather than just ending up with what you accumulate.
Both SS and VRS are paid out like a pension. A 401k is paid out….well, when its gone, its gone. The other 2 are annuitized.
@Elena, yes sort of. a pension gives you a defined benefit. The state takes the risk. You pretty much know what you are going to get. If you had a 401K then you are taking the risk and you get what’s there.
Private funds like a 401k or 403B are always in danger because of the stock market if that is where your investments are. Not sure what you mean about the market getting your pension money regardless. Yes, the crash of the Great Recession did gtake a huge chunk out of the VRS pension. It also took a giant bite out of everyone’s private investments. I don’t think that is the norm, however.
Don’t downplay the VRS pension. Its the best game in town for state and local employees. You don’t ever want to give it up. EVER. You don’t ever want to substitute a 401K for it. Don’t be mislead by politicians.
Also, if you are getting close to retirement, don’t take PLOP if you are eligible.
I am feeling much better about the VRS thread. I have had so many people tell me how full of it I am. I finally grew weary and called the Couynt executives office and got some written information. It turns out I wasn’t as off base as some would have thought.
My main error was thinking that the professional school board people and the county people were on similar plans. The plans are admiinistered differently. Other than that, they are all VRS and thus simlar, although not identical. I needed to spell that out.
The unfunded liabilities have never been hidden. No the school system isn’t bad. NO BOCS isn’t bad. All are at the mercy of the state and the General Assembly.
If you want to bitch at someone, call your delegate. Tell them to fund VRS as it should be funded rather than going on the cheap. Call the Governor and tell him it must be put on a sustainable course.
We are a far cry from California and we aren’t approaching bankruptcy. Not even close. We do want to be where we should be when this crop of new hires gets ready for retirement though.
The moral of this story is, don’t wake up a vintage woman with some sky is falling story about the VRS. Its hitting a little too close to home. She might arise angry and in a take no prisoners mood.
Finally, Corey and Melissa Peacor and the entire BOCS are innocent on this one, despite the dark screen’s best effort to paint them all as subversives.
There seems to be a great deal of jealousy being spouted in the blogosphere, by one blog meister in particular. Part of the reason for his resentment is because he doesn’t know what he is talking about. GL–get the facts. Call the county executive’s office and ask for some fact sheets. It’s amazing how much less hate you will have when you deal with facts vs. what you think you know.
Also, there are no lifetime health benefits from the county. Unless you are really high up, like the superintendent, you get YOUR health care paid for in PART. You pay a small portion. Once you no longer work, you pay the whole package. NOthing comes to you from the county. Your wife gets nothing, your kids get nothing. The benefits package isn’t any better or worse than private sector.
We are a private sector/public sector household. I have seen both sides of it. Probably the best way of describing the public sector worker is that you give up some of the glamor and glitz for pension. That’s about it.
Finally, the idea that the state would let the county get away with not paying its obligations for 10 years is just foolish. That isn’t going to happen. Let’s put a little trust in those who serve us.
Queen of Hearts said it better than I did but she (I am assuming) is spot on!
Facts have never gotten in the way of a screaming, incendiary lede in much of the blogsphere. It’s too bad, because there are a lot of uninformed people who use the blog world like a roller coaster – they don’t know the forces that make it work, but like the thrills.
I confess that a guilty pleasure (akin to picking up the latest alien kidnapping publication at the grocery store checkout line) was reading the hysterical breathless, purportedly almost real-time posts about gang rapes and knife fights perpetrated by cretinous, barely human immigrants. These seem to have largely faded away in recent years, but there was a time when they were almost daily fare.
Hats off to contributors here (and to the site host) for informative, reasoned discussion of a complicated, but fiscally important subject. I didn’t get any cheap thrills, but I learned something (and learning is a subtle thrill at any age).
“Finally, Corey and Melissa Peacor and the entire BOCS are innocent on this one, despite the dark screen’s best effort to paint them all as subversives.”
In the grand scheme of things they are innocent with regard to the creating the circumstances under which the liability was created. They are not, however, innocent of exacerbating the long range liabilities. Anybody who was paying attention when this started two or three years ago knew that the piper would eventually have to be paid. Peacor’s advice was to embark on a course that would dramatically increase the cost in the name of advantages in recruiting new employees. It was a foolish long range plan and one that PWC has quietly backtracked on as the extent of the cost in the outyears became more apparent. Virtually every other jurisdiction immediately availed themselves of the opportunities to require some or all of their current employees and all of their new hires to contribute to the retirement plan, initially PWC did not at a rather substantial cost. Despite recent assertions on many blogs that the affected current employees were willing to accept the new retirement contributions, there was much wailing and gnashing of the teeth at the time the issue was before the BOCS. I for one have little sympathy for those who are complaining about having to contribute to their retirement, I can think of no private enterprises where that is not the case and believe that the county should be run just like a business because at the end of the day, that’s what it really is.
@Moon-howler
To get the output….you must have the input. That’s what I’m talking about. When you have control of your finances, you can determine the amount. Since the VRS is gov’t controlled, the pensions, unless funded correctly, WILL break the bank. That’s what’s happening across the country. So, if we decide that a pension is the way to go….all I’m saying is that we must hold the gov’t’s collective feet to the fire to make sure that its funded correctly. OR give us the power to do it ourselves and let us keep our money.
Remember…I have a vested interest in this. I plan on being under the VRS as a teacher.
Me. As a teacher. That should keep people up at night….BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Kim S said:
Kim, I do not agree with your synopsis here. The school system cut back because of the housing crash….less money came in. It had nothing to do with VRS. I don’t know where this is coming from. Please check the articles here and also go to Al Alborn’s blog to read his post from Mrs. Peacor. I have similar info from here but did not post mine.
Scout, we will try to do better with the cheap thrills. In case you missed it, there is a thread on Roswell, NM, a shark stealing a fish from a little girl and something else kinky. I can’t recall.
Thanks for the vote of confidence. You know I love your visits.
You always say something intelligent, even if you are trying not to.
@Mom
That wasn’t too bad. I didn’t take my hand off the frown face …but fortunately I didn’t need it.
Actually, I can’t think of any large jurisdiction in the area that went with the 5% contribution the first year. Now the jurisdictions don’t have a choice. They also have to give a raise which costs more. PWC has to remain competitive. I understand why they passed on it.
But good job there, Mom. No one got sliced and diced.
@Cargosquid
Cargo, you will not win on this one. Honest. You are free to put your money in the 401 k. The rest of us will pony up with VRS. At age 65 we will compare our monthly checks. Do you plan on having your annuitized? Otherwise you could cheat and pull out huge sums of money to trump ours. However, if you do that, you will run out in a year or two.
With the 401k, you assume the cost. With a pension, the pension assumes the risk.
You cannot determine the amount if you use the 401k system with VRS, I am not sure it has even started actually. But I dont think you can put in more than is allowed. You can put into a private 401k plan or you can buy a roth IRA but those have limitations as to how much you can contribute. You can also have a private savings or money market that barely pays any interest.
Stick with the pension plan if it is offered. You will thank me.
As for you being a teacher, yes, it does keep me up at night. You are aware that any indoctrination of kids into your political ideas is strictly verbotin?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/us/in-report-on-states-finances-a-grim-long-term-forecast.html?_r=1&hp
Thanks Andy. How are things in Manassas with this issue. Is everyone up in arms?
There is reason for concern but it isn’t a 3 alarm fire. Shame on those who presented it as such. Hysteria isn’t going to solve anything.
Great reporting Moonhowling….dead on. Al Born nailed it as well…sometimes blogs need to create a stir to create interest it seems..
Its been frustrating, trying to undo misinformation. Its a complicated subject that most people have trouble addressing at best. (especially me).
The link above left by AndyH is a critical read. I am fine-toothing it at the moment. Its best read after a good night’s sleep to get the full impact.
Every time our Governor appears of Faux News having his butt kissed for Virginia’s sterling financial recovery, someone out to stand up with the liar liar pants on fire chant.
Much of those kudos are the result of funny money being played with the pension fund. A little borrow here, a not paid back there….works every time in the short run.
Now, to his credit, he did at least borrow at 7.5%. He wasn’t dishonest. He could have just buried it.
To those of us with a dog in the fight and skin in the game, the truth is bad enough…..the blog invention being perpetrated now is just beyond frustration. Let’s at least hold the right people responsible. I can go shake my fist in Corey’s face all day long to no avail. Nothing he can do about it at this point. All Ms. Peacor can do is break down the information for us. She didn’t start the fire either. All Virginia jurisdictions who are a part of VRS are in the same boat. I can’t think of one that isn’t. If someone knows of a place, well, let us know.
Read it and weep.
The State Budget Crisis Task Force
http://www.statebudgettaskforce.info/wpcms/
Why is it important? Virginia is one of the 6 states highlighted for being in serious trouble.
Don’t believe Faux News with the shining, fair haired governor. This is a bi partisan group.
For those who got so much pleasure telling how full of it I was the other day….read the report and then the link Andy left. Then apologize to Al Alborn and me.
The Sheriff might be right that the sky is falling, or might fall….but he needs to just point at the right sky and blame the right sky-keepers.
@Mom
MoM. I keep hearing this bull puckey about the private sector….no private sector this that or the other does what public sectors are doing…
STOP! WAIT! What’s that sound? No kidding. Public sectors are not private sectors. Ya think? No they aren’t. That’s sort of the point.
We have often talked about people going to work in the public sector, often for less money in exchange for better retirement in the end. I can remember the early 80’s when we public employees were all bought off with no raises (again) in exchange for having our VRS paid for. Shoot, they even went so far as to tell us how it was a better deal in the long run because it would save us on tax increases. So yes, that little savings plan went on for 30 years.
Now I hear the slight edge in everyone’s tone like we were somehow scamming the public when we were forced to take paid VRS in lieu of raises. It must have been those effen unions!!! Hell no it wasn’t any union. It was the State of Virginia. I must admit, it ended up being a damn sweet deal for VRS members also. 30 years of paid contributions.
But back to topic…the public sector is not the private sector and no, you won’t find the same rewards happening at the same time. I come from a private/public household. My husband was in the private sector. I begged him to go government…he refused. he could make more money blah blah blah…and he often did. He often doubled what I made…for a while. Ask me where his pension is? Pay me now or pay me later.
Public employees cannot be asked to function like private sector employees unless they get private sector benefits from the beginning. That simply isn’t going to happen.
So we are back to public employees arent the same as private sector employees…..
People in Manassas aren’t up at arms. Well, maybe some are but not many. Numbers be numbers and they don’t lie. The actuary needs to have the lattitude to structure the plan so that it meets it’s obligations and then the participants need to fund it. Having some amount of underfunded liabillity isn’t a real earth-shaker in most instances. Not everyone will retire at the same time and a well crafted plan can accomodate gains and losses. Sometimes this is accomplished by increasing the rate at which funds need to be put back into the fund and sometimes its by investment returns. That needs to be determined by the professionals, not the politicians.
However, banging the drum to hang the BOS (or Council for that matter) from the highest yardarm isn’t going to produce much in the way of results. In the end, what are those folks advocating for? A huge overpayment by PWC or Manassas into VRS so that our individual plans are solvent? Do we really think that VRS will stuff that money in a hole for us or will it go into a larger fund? Where would the money for this massive overpayment come from?
All this takes (and you Dillon Rule nuts will love this) is the GA to swallow hard and make the payments – the localities only pay what Richmond tells them to pay. If you want this issue solved, start writing your representatives in Richmond. Of course, bear in mind that they’re under incredible pressure from every other quarter as well….
Thank you Andy. I can sleep a happy woman. You ask a great question….about trusting Richmond to squirrel away excessive PWC funds. Yea right! there would be neighboring squirrels all over our money.
A lot of people are going to war over this and they are attacking the wrong people. Some of those people should know better. It is their job to know better.
Andy for King! Andy for King!
You are too kind…;)
Not up in arms…but I can think of a few who are going for tar and feathers 🙂