PERS board endorses proposed Tier 5 DBDC hybrid model after failed amendment

The Public Employees Retirement System of Mississippi Board of Trustees voted Dec. 18 to endorse a proposed Tier 5 DBDC hybrid model for future employees, a proposal staff and actuaries projected would lower the cost of future benefits and direct a larger share of employer contributions toward reducing the system’s unfunded actuarial accrued liability (UAAL).

George Dale introduced the legislative committee’s draft motion recommending board endorsement of the Tier 5 DBDC hybrid model and said the plan is “projected to have a favorable impact on the future funded status of the plan by lowering the cost of future benefits directing a larger share of the employer contribution towards the UAAL, paying off the UAAL sooner and mitigating contribution rate risk.”

Board member Doctor McCoy offered an amendment to insert language allowing “or a defined benefit plan that accomplishes the same impact on the future status of the plan,” but the amendment received no second and therefore failed. The board then voted on the original motion; the chair reported one abstention and one vote against the motion, and the motion carried.

The discussion focused on projected fiscal impacts and the committee record of staff and actuary explanations; no statutory changes were adopted by the board at this meeting. The legislative committee’s recommendation, as endorsed, will be part of the board’s formal record and may be carried forward to the plan sponsor or to future rulemaking or legislative work by the appropriate authorities.

The legislative committee concluded its report and the board moved on to other committee business.