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Keizer manager details PERS paydown plan and cityproperty purchase used in financing strategy
Summary
City Manager Adam Brown told the budget committee the council recently purchased a property south and west of City Hall to support evidence storage and that proceeds from property sales and a state match will be used to pay down PERS liability.
City Manager Adam Brown told the Keizer Budget Committee on May 20 that reducing the cityPERS unfunded actuarial liability remains a central strategy for stabilizing long-term finances.
Brown said the city has created a site account and committed an initial $3.5 million to a match program intended to leverage an additional state match (estimated at roughly $875,000). The targeted paydown is intended to reduce the cityannual PERS payments and free capacity for ongoing services, Brown said. He described the total unfunded accrued liability as roughly $24 million and said normal annual PERS costs are only about $329,000 of the city's current payment profile.
Brown also discussed a council purchase of a property adjacent to City Hall (referred to in staff materials as the "Utah property"). The parcel, he said, will be used to support a proposed evidence storage building and related operational needs. Sale or repurposing of other city-owned parcels has been part of the strategy to fund PERS paydown; Brown said two letters of intent had been signed for city properties with a combined value near $6 million.
Budget officer Tim Wood said staff opened the site account on April 1 to be eligible for the state's 25% match and that the city restrained its commitment so it could reserve funds to repay property acquisition costs. Wood described an assumed investment return (6.8% for PERS actuarial purposes) and contrasted that with the city's investment pool returns (approximately 4.6% in the prior year).
The committee pressed staff on the timing and implementation of PERS payments and asked for follow-up details. Brown and Wood said final actuarial effects depend on state actuarial cycles and that earlier paydown would increase the chance of seeing lower employer rates in the next biennial actuarial period if the payment is reflected in the state's schedules in time.
The committee did not take a final vote on PERS-specific financing measures at the meeting; members requested additional documentation and schedule details for subsequent review.
