With two members hoping to see payments increase, Hamilton County commissioners are asking state legislators for help reconstituting an inactive committee that oversees their pension plan.
“It’s not a sin to want to increase salaries or pensions,” Commissioner Greg Beck, D-North Brainerd, said in an interview. “It happens every day all the time with everybody. It’s not a sin to want to do that. It’s not a sin for the state, it’s not a sin for the federal (government) to request increases in pensions or anything. … Why does anybody want to see that as taboo?”
Beck and Commissioner Warren Mackey, D-Lake Vista, cosponsored a resolution commissioners approved Wednesday making that request to the state and confirmed to the Chattanooga Times Free Press they’re hoping to ultimately see adjustments in the commission’s pension plan.
Three other commissioners said their understanding is the commission’s action was simply part of a housekeeping effort to bring the committee into agreement with how county government currently operates.
Commissioner Joe Graham, R-Lookout Valley, said in a phone call he’s unaware of any effort to change members’ pension payments. He said he didn’t know commissioners received a pension until after he lost reelection to the board in 2018.