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Committee advances bill letting transfers reverse and make PERS whole for officers who moved to municipal police plan
Summary
The Senate Pensions Committee voted to report Senate Bill 7 16 to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass; the measure was referred first to the Committee on Finance.
The Senate Pensions Committee voted to report Senate Bill 7 16 to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass; the committee also recommended the bill be first referred to the Committee on Finance.
Counsel told members the bill addresses failure to pay required make-up contributions and interest for certain retirees who transferred between retirement systems. "You have before you Senate Bill 7 16, relating to failure to pay required contributions and interest payments for certain retirees who transfer between retirement systems," Philip Childs told the committee. He described the make-up contribution as "4% of total earnings for which assets are transferred, plus 7.5% interest since the date the officer or firefighter went into PERS through the calculation date."
Teresa Miller, deputy director of the Consolidated Public Retirement Board, told the panel the bill would give the board explicit authority to transfer back to PERS the assets that originally moved to the municipal police and firefighters retirement system (MPERS), plus the contributions that would have been made to PERS during the period the employee was in MPERS. Miller gave a concrete example: one person owed about $38,000 and said they could not pay that amount. "This bill just gives us the authority to transfer back to PERS the amount of the assets that were transferred to begin with plus whatever contributions would have been made to PERS during the period that they've been in the municipal police plan and the excess contributions would remain in the municipal police plan until they terminate employment," Miller said.
Miller said the statutory transfer window for tier 2 PERS members runs through June 30, 2025, and estimated roughly 30 to 40 members have already made the transfer. Counsel and Miller said the change carries no state fiscal impact because the funds involved are municipal and actuarially related to municipal plans. The committee approved the bill by voice vote and sent it on with the double-reference to Finance.
The measure now goes to the Senate Finance Committee for further consideration.
