Arapahoe County retirement plan posts modest funding gains; board urged to continue contribution increases

Actuarial consultants told the Arapahoe County retirement board on the 01/01/2025 valuation that the county’s defined‑benefit retirement plan showed modest progress in 2024 but remains far from fully funded.

Consultants from Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company (GRS) and investment advisor CapTrust said the plan’s actuarial value of assets rose slightly and the funded ratio improved to about 63% from 62% a year earlier, reducing the unfunded actuarial accrued liability to roughly $246,000,000. The presenters said favorable payroll growth and investment returns were the main drivers of the improvement but that the plan still carries substantial interest costs at the plan’s 7.25% actuarial interest assumption.

The consultants described several pieces of recent experience that improved results: county contributions increased from 9.5% to 9.75% of pay (adding roughly $500,000 to plan funding in 2025), plan payroll grew faster than expected because of above‑forecast new hires, and market returns exceeded the actuarial assumption on a market‑value basis (about an 8.5% market return versus a 7.25% assumption). Because Arapahoe County…