MPERA Press Releases
MPERA RELEASING RETIREE INFORMATION
Helena – The Montana Public Employee Retirement Administration (MPERA) is releasing retiree information to the Montana Watchdog, a media outlet. About a year ago the Montana Watchdog requested that MPERA release retiree names and pension amounts for the ten members of the Public Employees’ Retirement System receiving the highest annual benefit amounts. At that time MPERA did not release this information in an effort to protect the privacy of its members. Since then, an Attorney General’s opinion was published determining that the public’s right to know outweighs retirees’ individual rights of privacy and Montana Watchdog expanded their request to retirees in all MPERA administered retirement systems, which include retirees from covered state, city, county and other covered employers.
MPERA’s Executive Director, Roxanne Minnehan and the Montana Teachers’ Retirement System’s (TRS) Director, David Senn, met with Phil Drake from the Montana Watchdog and Carl Graham from the Montana Policy Institute to negotiate an agreement for the type of information that will be released. MPERA and TRS agreed to release retiree names listed with the retirement system from which he or she retired, the retiree’s last employer, service credit, and an estimate of the combined amount that their employer(s) contributed throughout their employment. TRS released this information to Montana Watchdog on February 1, 2012 and MPERA anticipates releasing their information on February 21, 2012.
"What people seem to be asking is, how much are taxpayers paying for pension benefits?" said MPERA’s Executive Director, Roxanne Minnehan. "We are trying to give information that is a true reflection of taxpayer contributions. What many people don’t understand is that public employees contribute to their retirement account throughout their careers both as employees and as taxpayers. When they retire, their pensions are paid largely from the investment earnings."
The information MPERA is releasing shows estimated total employer contributions, not a retiree’s benefit amount. Once someone retires, the retirement system does not receive any more contributions for that person. Their retirement benefits are paid from their retirement system’s pension trust fund.
A study conducted by the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA) determined that in Montana state and local governments spend a total of 2.38% of their overall budgets funding public pension benefits. “Montana’s local governments typically spend less than 2% of their overall budgets on pension benefits. This is a small percent when you consider how much of that money returns to each of our Montana communities,” stated Minnehan.
For more information, visit our website at mpera.mt.gov or find us on Facebook.
December 5, 2011
UPCOMING RELEASE OF PUBLIC RETIREE INFORMATION
Helena – An agreement was reached between the Montana Public Employee Retirement Administration (MPERA) and the Montana Watchdog regarding information for retirees with benefits administered by MPERA.
About a year ago the Montana Watchdog requested that MPERA release retiree names and pension amounts; however, MPERA did not release this information in an effort to protect the privacy of its members. The Montana Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) received the same request and asked for an Attorney General opinion on the issue. Recently, Attorney General Bullock released an opinion that the public’s right to know outweighed the individual rights of privacy of state retirees in their retirement benefits.
MPERA’s Executive Director, Roxanne Minnehan and TRS’s Director, David Senn, met with the Montana Watchdog to negotiate an agreement for the type of information that will be released. “Our concern with releasing pension amounts is the perception that taxpayers are fully funding retiree pensions. This is simply not the case,” stated Minnehan. “Public employees contribute to their retirement account throughout their careers both as employees and taxpayers. When they retire, their pensions are paid largely from the investment earnings on those contributions with a portion contributed by taxpayers. It is misleading to imply that taxpayers pay the full amount of a retiree’s benefit,” said Minnehan.
Benefit amounts are not a true reflection of taxpayer contributions. Many retirees have purchased service they were eligible for, which increases the years of service used to calculate their benefit. This expense is paid solely by the member. Benefit amounts are also dependent upon the retirement option a member chooses. Monthly and lifetime benefit amounts vary significantly based on this personal, financial choice.
With this in mind, MPERA has agreed to release retiree names listed with their last employer, years of service credit and the estimated amount that their employer contributed throughout their employment. “The question seems to be, “how much are taxpayers paying for pension benefits?” says Minnehan. A study conducted by the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA) determined that in Montana state and local governments spend a total of 2.27% of their overall budgets funding public pension benefits. “Montana’s local governments typically spend from 1 – 2% of their overall budgets on pension benefits. This is a small percent when you consider how much of that money returns to each of our Montana communities,” stated Minnehan. MPERA plans to release the information in January 2012. For more information, visit our website at mpera.mt.gov or find us on Facebook.
September 13, 2011
MONTANA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT BOARD RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS AWARD
Helena – the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting has been awarded to Montana Public Employees’ Retirement Board by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for its comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR). The certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.
An Award of Financial Reporting Achievement has been awarded to the individuals(s), department or agency designated by the government as primarily responsible for preparing the award-winning CARF. This has been presented to:
The CAFR has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program including demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the CAFR.
The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 17,500 government finance professionals with offices in Chicago, IL and Washington, D.C.
May 13, 2011
GOVERNOR SIGNS PENSION IMPROVEMENTS
Helena- With Gov. Brian Schweitzer's signatures on a trio of bills adjusting pension plans for public workers, steps have been taken in the right direction to make the plans more financially viable for the long term.
"House Bill 122 was our suggestion for improvements to the Public Employees' Retirement System, covering most public workers, and House Bills 134 and 135 were specific for improvements to the pension plans for Game Wardens and Peace Officers Retirement System' and Sheriffs' Retirement System," said Roxanne Minnehan, executive director of the Montana Public Employees' Retirement Administration (MPERA).
"We still have funding deficiencies in a few of the retirement plans covering state, county and city workers, but bills like these make improvements little by little that we'll see over time," Minnehan stated.
For new hires in all three plans, effective July 1 pension calculations will be made averaging the high five years of earnings, instead of the current high-three. The change prevents so-called spiking of retirement benefits via late-career pay raises or substantial pre-retirement overtime pay to boost the average when figuring monthly benefits.
Beginning July 1, 2011, new hires under PERS will see these changes: normal retirement age increases from 60 to 65, and eligibility for early retirement increases from age 50 to 55 with five years of membership service. Employee contributions also increase from 6.9% to 7.9%.
"The changes made this session are a beginning to addressing the funding shortfalls", said Minnehan. "No doubt funding for the retirement systems will be revisited during the next legislative session."
April 25, 2011
HIGH TOTAL RETURNS ON STATE RETIREMENT FUNDS
HELENA– High total returns on some retirement funds for Montana city, county and state pensioners were reported recently to the board of directors of the Montana Public Employees’ Retirement Administration (MPERA).
At its regular monthly meeting in Helena, the board was told by Clifford Sheets, chief investment officer of the Montana Board of Investments that the retirement fund covering the state’s largest group of retirees, the Public Employees’ Retirement System, had a return of 19.8% for the fiscal year through March 31, driven mostly by strong returns from publicly traded stocks. It was 4.4% for the first quarter of this year, he added, and both rates appear to indicate a strong fiscal year for investment earnings. He cautioned, however, that we were in a similar position a year ago, and the last quarter of the fiscal year suffered from a sharp correction in stocks that pulled down final results for the full fiscal year. read more...
March 30, 2011
PENSION PLAN SWITCH OPPOSED BY STATE EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT BOARD
Conversion to an all Defined Contribution plan for state, county and city workers was opposed Wednesday morning by the Montana Public Employee Retirement Administration (MPERA) and six statewide employee organizations in testimony before the House State Administration Committee.
No one else spoke in support of SB328 after an initial explanation by its sponsor, Sen. Dave Lewis (R-Dist. 42). The House committee will take executive action on the measure at its Friday meeting at 8 a.m.
The proposed legislation for new hires in the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) seeks to change most public employee retirements from a defined-benefit method, by which employees are typically guaranteed a certain amount in monthly pension based on career earnings and contributions, in favor of a defined-contribution plan, similar to a 401(k) plan, in which workers are responsible for deciding where and how their contributions are invested, and how much can be drawn out monthly upon retirement. read more...
February 28, 2011
PENSION SHORTFALL COULD BE REMEDIED
Shortages in a few state public employee pension funds could be remedied for new hires though higher pension contributions by workers, increasing the age for retirement eligibility, and a change to how benefits are calculated. But to work, the solutions also need to include increased contributions from public employers.
The Montana Public Employees' Retirement Administration (MPERA) has proposed fixes for the Game Wardens & Peace Officers Retirement System in House Bill 134, the Sheriffs Retirement System (HB135) and the Public Employees' Retirement System (HB122). read more...
January 19, 2011
MPERA WORKS TO IMPROVE SOLVENCY OF RETIREMENT FUNDS
Helena - The Montana Public Employee Retirement Administration (MPERA) has proposed legislation in the 2011 Legislative Session to help better ensure the long-term stability of three of the eight retirement systems administered by the agency. The pension funds for Sheriffs, Game Wardens & Peace Officers, and Public Employees currently do not meet the requirements to be actuarially sound.
"None of these three retirement systems are in danger of failing, because there is no possibility that all the debts will come due right now," said Roxanne Minnehan, MPERA executive director. "But MPERA feels that there needs to be some action taken during the legislative session to help ensure the funds' solvency over the coming decades." read more...
December 13, 2010
RETIRED GOVERNMENT WORKERS SPEND LOCALLY
Helena -- Businesses in cities and towns across Montana are boosted substantially by the $250 million in benefits received every year by state, county and local government pensioners from retirement plans administered by the Montana Public Employee Retirement Administration (MPERA).
Before retiring, these public servants showed up for work every day as snowplow drivers, policemen, child protection workers, license plate issuers, garbage collectors, game wardens and many other public service jobs that help Montana's government run.
"These retired workers from county courthouses, city halls and assorted state agencies aren't typically seen as an economic engine, but they spend a lot of money in stores and professional offices every day," said Roxanne Minnehan, MPERA executive director in Helena. read more...
November 30, 2010
AVERAGE FIREFIGHTERS RETIREMENT IS $27,596
Firefighters do hard work and look forward to the day when they can retire to a safer existence. They get burned and cut up on the job, and exposed to communicable diseases when responding in their roles as EMTs. Rescues can be in snow or sun, on land or water. Hazardous chemicals can also be involved.
"Firemen contribute quite lot more than average public workers toward their retirement plans," explained Roxanne Minnehan of Helena, executive director of the Montana Public Employees' Retirement Administration (MPERA).
"In addition to those years of irregular sleep, mental stress and hazardous workplaces," said Minnehan, "firefighters defending the Montana public have 10.7% of their pay deducted for retirement benefits, compared to members of the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) who contribute 6.9%. read more...
