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Auditors flag $115M OPEB liability; town weighing pension bonds via home‑rule petition
Summary
The fiscal 2024 audit presentation reported an Other Post‑Employment Benefits (OPEB) liability of about $115 million, noted optional funding status, and reviewed a long‑running home‑rule petition to allow pension bonds as a potential financing tool.
Auditors told the Nantucket County Audit Committee on May 14 that the town’s OPEB — other post‑employment benefits — liability for fiscal 2024 is about $115 million, while plan assets cover roughly 6 percent of that liability.
Tony Roselli, partner at Roselli Clark and Associates, described OPEB as health, dental and life insurance obligations to retirees and said the actuarial calculation defined the current $115 million liability. Roselli and staff explained Massachusetts does not require communities to prefund OPEB the way the state requires pension funding, so prefunding OPEB is optional.
Bridal (staff member) and Brian (staff member) described recent steps to increase plan assets: the county moved toward funding the liability and expects an additional contribution so the county plan is closer to fully funded by the end of calendar 2025. Brian said the county funded about $325,000 last year and expects to fund the remainder before year end.
The committee also discussed a longstanding home‑rule petition that would permit the county to issue pension bonds to extinguish unfunded pension liabilities in coordination with Barnstable County. Bridal said the petition would allow issuance only for the remaining life of the existing funding schedule, and that as the scheduled payoff shortens the potential savings from issuing bonds declines.
Discussion only: Audit staff described the liability, current funding level and the legislative home‑rule option. No committee action on changing OPEB policy or issuing bonds occurred at this meeting.
