County pension plan work ongoing; administrator says study revisions nearly complete

Christy Anderson (introduced in the meeting as Judge Christy Anderson) updated commissioners on a multi-year effort to amend and unfreeze the county's employee pension plan. Anderson told the board she was not prepared to present an amendment to lift the freeze at the April 3 meeting because the plan documentation and actuarial numbers need additional verification.

Anderson said early studies included only active employees and vested, terminated employees, and legal counsel advised that the plan must also include participants currently drawing benefits. She said the actuary's new study is based on Jan. 1, 2024 valuations, and that the plan cannot be amended to a different effective date; the team must use the correct valuation date.

To ensure accurate benefit calculations, Anderson said the actuarial team is performing a data analysis going back and verifying each employee's historical compensation and status. "We are very close to getting this done," she said, and described frequent calls with staff and the actuary to complete the work. Anderson said the trustees and participants have been engaged and expressed optimism about the proposed changes, but she would not present a plan amendment until the numbers and plan wording were correct.

The board took no formal action on the pension plan at the meeting; Anderson said the county would invite the actuarial firm (Buck or Gallagher) to present final numbers when the data validation is complete.