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Chester receiver reports pension gains, flags appellate and school-district risks ahead of budget
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Summary
Receiver Vijay Kapoor told MRAC members a recent jump in pension assets has reduced immediate payment risk, but warned that a pending Third Circuit ruling and a claim by the Chester Upland School District together pose budgetary uncertainty ahead of the council’s budget vote.
Vijay Kapoor, the court-appointed receiver for the city of Chester, told the Municipal Recovery Advisory Committee on Nov. 25 that the city has made measurable progress on pension funding but still faces legal and revenue uncertainties that could reshape next year’s budget.
Kapoor said the Police Pension Fund held about $27,400,000 in real assets as of Oct. 31, 2025, up from $1,750,000 when the city first entered receivership. He credited work by the finance department and consultants for enabling the plan to be invested beginning in June 2024, which improved returns. "My name is Vijay Kapoor. I have the pleasure of serving as the receiver for the city of Chester," he said as he opened the status update and framed the gains.
The improvements extend to other plans, Kapoor said: the Fire Pension Fund held roughly $38,200,000 as of Oct. 31, and the officers-and-employees (O&E) plan was reported at about $5,500,000 (the transcript contained an unclear additional figure for O&E). Kapoor cautioned that while these gains reduce near-term risk of missed pension payments, significant work remains to return all plans to fully funded status.
Why it matters: The city’s budget, which Kapoor said will be introduced to council the next day, still faces important downside scenarios. He warned that a pending Third Circuit appeal could require the city to resume roughly $3.2 million a year in debt-service payments if the bankruptcy court’s finding is overturned; that amount is not included in the proposed budget and would present major fiscal pressure.
Kapoor also flagged a claim by the Chester Upland School District, which is itself in receivership and seeks its share of the community’s earned-income tax. Kapoor estimated that district collection could eventually reduce city revenue by about $1.6 million annually (roughly an $800,000 hit to city contributions in a single year, if phased in midyear).
Other fiscal details: Kapoor said personnel costs—active and retiree health care, pensions and workers’ compensation—are the main budget drivers. Through the first six months of 2025 the city spent about $1.8 million on active employee health costs compared with $2.5 million for retirees, with many retirees being former police and firefighters. The city has engaged eCollect to pursue past-due real-estate taxes and trash fees; Kapoor said eCollect has recovered about $1,100,000 this year and that collections will continue into 2026.
Kapoor also described painfully slow audit work. He said the 2021 audit is "nearly" complete and that work on the 2022 audit has begun; he meets weekly with the audit firm and the city’s CFO to drive progress.
Next steps: Kapoor said he will file a status report with the Commonwealth Court by Dec. 1 and will post the filed report to chesterreceivership.com. He urged continued coordination among city officials, state partners and consultants as the city finishes budget deliberations and responds to pending court matters.
