Brentwood weighing hazardous‑duty pension supplement for police and firefighters; actuarial report shows roughly $3 million one‑time cost

Brentwood finance staff and members of the City Commission discussed whether to adopt a supplemental hazardous‑duty pension benefit for sworn police and fire employees during a lengthy briefing Tuesday. Staff presented actuarial findings from the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) that showed the proposed supplement would create immediate unfunded liabilities and materially increase the city's pension funding requirement.

Jay, a city staff member presenting the actuarial summary, explained that the city currently has a legacy plan and a hybrid plan for different employee cohorts and that the bridge benefit adopted in 2009 already provides elevated retirement multipliers designed to help public safety employees bridge to Social Security at early‑retirement age. The proposed hazardous‑duty supplement would add an additional 0.375 percentage point multiplier for ages 60 through 67, extending a benefit bridge to full Social Security age and increasing retirement benefit levels for 25‑ and 30‑year employees.

The actuarial numbers discussed…