Authority reports fund balance above $567 million despite higher-than-budgeted benefits payouts

David Salazar Austin presented the finance and audit report Feb. 13, saying the authority remains solvent despite benefit payouts exceeding earlier budget estimates.

"For year to date, our results are almost $3,600,000 and that has resulted in a positive variance in our operating account of $2,700,000 year to date," Salazar Austin said. He reported that year-to-date fund balance at December was "over $567,300,000" and projected cash of about $575,000,000 by June 30, 2025.

Salazar Austin told the board that the primary driver of negative variance in the contribution account was higher benefits paid than budgeted. He said benefits paid totaled more than $34,100,000 for a recent period, averaging about $8.5 million a week, and that December reflected seasonal variation. He also noted benefit-admin fees would rise about 3% starting in January under contract terms.

The finance update included bond activity: roughly $90,000 of bond funds were spent on the fund recovery system in the month and about $610,000 year to date; the authority has approximately $1,775,000 of bond funds available for fund recovery and other planned initiatives.

Salazar Austin said contributions for the fourth quarter were largely received by Jan. 31, with more than $104.5 million posted in January; the full monthly and quarterly accounting will be presented next month. He concluded that, while the contribution accounts are showing negative variance relative to budget because of higher benefits paid, the authority still expects to finish the fiscal year with a positive net position.

Board members did not take a board-level vote on financial policy at the meeting; the finance and audit committee continues to review actuarial reports and a timeline for an actuarial services RFP.