The actuary for the Chattanooga Fire and Police Pension said today the fund has adequate reserves to pay its promised benefits and wasn’t hurt financially by changes adopted in 2000.
Leon “Rocky” Joyner Jr., an actuary for the Segal Co., said the costs of the enhanced benefits adopted in the plan by city voters in 2000 were offset by savings in police and fire payroll. Overall payroll and pension benefits to police officers and firefighters have risen less than originally projected, Mr. Joyner said.
The Segal actuary criticized an audit of the pension plan done for the city last year as inaccurate and misleading. An audit by Cheiron said the fire and police pension plan was underfunded by $95 million. But Segal estimated the long-term shortfall at only $62 million, which the plan expects to recover from investment earnings over the next three decades.
“You are in a decently funded plan,” Mr. Joyner told members of the Fire and Police Pension board.
In a 21-page report released today, Segal blamed the increased costs to taxpayers for fire and police pension benefits since 2000 largely on less-than-expected investment returns, similar to what most other pension plans have suffered.
The changes in the pension plan adopted in 2000 to encourage some workers to retire earlier than in previous plans helped “to transform the city’s police officers and firefighters into a younger, more able-bodied public safety workforce,” the report said.
For complete coverage, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.
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