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Blair told to boost pension pay-in

Report says county should again increase contribution

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The latest report on Blair County’s underfunded pension plan is recommending county leaders continue adhering to a plan of increasing its annual pension contribution by 5% or $250,000, whichever is less.

David B. Reid Sr., vice president of CBIZ Retirement Plan Services, recently presented the county retirement board with an annual report recommending the county set aside $5.25 million in its pension plan for 2023, an increase of $250,000 over its 2022 contribution.

The county’s 2022 contribution of $5 million was just slightly less than CBIZ’s recommended contribution of $5.03 million for 2022.

If the county keeps following its plan, it should “get this pension plan where it’s supposed to be,” Reid told the retirement board made up of commissioners Bruce Erb, Laura Burke, Amy Webster, Controller A.C. Stickel and Treasurer James Carothers.

Reid also projected that the practice of increasing the annual contribution — along with investment returns averaging 7% annually — should improve the pension plan’s assets to just over $70 million in about 20 years. The plan currently has about $38.5 million in assets.

Erb, who chairs the retirement board, praised Reid’s report and the noted improvements while acknowledging concern.

“This is a great report, but our pension liability is at $65 million,” Erb said. “That is three times our county’s outstanding bond debt.”

Reid’s report calculated the liability shortfall for 2022 by subtracting the current value of the pension plan — $38.55 million — from what the plan owes to all current future retirees projected at $104.06 million — to get the shortfall of $65.07 million.

The $65.07 million was an improvement over the 2021 shortfall of $68.51 million, based on the numbers Reid reviewed.

This year’s report followed a report Reid issued last year, showing no identifiable insolvency within 30 years. A prior report issued in 2015 identified 2024 as the year of insolvency, when the county’s plan wouldn’t have enough money assets to cover liabilities.

Reid’s report showed the county’s pension plan had three years of positive returns from its investments — 19.02% in 2019, 11.23% in 2020 and 13.76% in 2021 — to boost its assets. The 2022 projection is expected to be in the single digits.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.

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