House retirement panel presses UPR finance director over pension shortfall, demands records

The Commission on Retirement Systems of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives on April 11, 2025 pressed Wilson Crespo Valentín, interim director of finance for the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), for details about a recurring shortfall in employer pension contributions and directed the university to deliver several records within days.

The panel’s questions centered on differences between the university’s current employer contribution (a 30% payroll contribution the administration uses as its estimate, which the Oversight Board certified as about $131,000,000 for fiscal 2024-25) and actuarial recommendations of roughly $155,000,000. "The actuarial study said $155,000,000 and you contributed $120,000,000," Representative Reinaldo Figueroa Acevedo said during questioning. Crespo said the administration paid the Oversight Board-certified line and had made an additional payment in March to close a portion of the gap.

Why this matters: commissioners said the gap—about $30 million per year by their estimate—threatens the retirement system’s long-term solvency, could shift costs to retirees and requires clearer accounting of what UPR has paid, what remains outstanding and what legal exposure the university faces if courts find prior changes illegal.

Key facts and requests - Crespo told the commission he began at the central budget office in June 2023 and that a 30% employer contribution to UPR’s retirement system was…