Actuary: separation-allowance plan for fire, ECC and five departments could cost Raleigh about $227 million over 20 years

Allison Bradshaw of the Finance Department and Greg Stump, chief actuary with Boomershine Consulting Group (BCG), presented an actuarial analysis of a possible separation allowance for fire, emergency communications (ECC) and five operations departments, outlining projected costs, funding approaches and implementation risks.

BCG modeled two packages: one for fire and ECC and a second combined group that included parks and recreation, transportation, Raleigh Water and engineering. For the fire/ECC group, BCG estimated a first-year total city contribution (normal cost plus an amortization payment for the plan’s initial unfunded liability) of roughly $5.0 million, equal to approximately 9.6% of that group’s payroll; the ongoing normal cost the consultant estimated at about 4.2% of that payroll. For the five operating departments, the consultant estimated a first-year city contribution of about $4.7 million, with a long-run normal cost near 1.8% of…