Macon-Bibb committee pushes fire-police pension hike on to full commission

A plea from Macon-Bibb County Mayor Robert Reichert was not enough to sway a committee to delay a vote Tuesday on an increase in benefits for members of the Macon Fire and Police Employees Retirement System.

Reichert urged the commission’s Operations and Finance Committee to wait until a revised fiscal 2016 budget is presented before deciding if the 301 members in the pension plan should get an extra $100 a month. A swing vote from Commissioner Larry Schlesinger allowed the ordinance to make it out of committee with a 3-2 vote.

Schlesinger was absent from the Aug. 25 meeting when the measure received a 2-2 vote.

Also voting in favor were Commissioners Elaine Lucas and Virgil Watkins. Commissioners Gary Bechtel and Scotty Shepherd voted against it.

The resolution that would increase supplemental benefits from $100 to $200 a month likely will go before the full commission Sept. 15.

The additional benefits would go to employees hired prior to July 1, 1985, and who have at least 25 years of service.

Reichert said county officials would have a better understanding of the financial impact of the change after a revised budget is presented in two weeks.

He asked commissioners to be careful with the portfolio that’s valued at $220 million and is currently funded at 115 percent.

Reichert maintained his stance that if Macon fire and police pension retirees get more money, then the active Macon-Bibb and Bibb County pension plans should receive consideration as well.

“Soon as you make a change, the pressure escalates significantly with the other funds,” he said.

The resolution’s sponsor, Commissioner Mallory Jones, said he was tired of delaying the measure. The extra money would cost about $458,000 a year, according to county officials.

“These men and women have worked second and third jobs their entire career to barely get by and make it for their families,” Jones said. “I don’t think the thing to do is postpone it and postpone it.”

Shepherd said he was not in opposition of the resolution, but he wanted to know how any change would affect the soundness of the plan.

There are 70 new retirees who will begin drawing from the pension fund after accepting early retirement packages earlier this summer.

Bechtel, who serves on the board that oversees the fire and police pension, warned of the consequences of an additional $100 a month if the plan doesn’t meet its projected 7.5 percent annual return.

“This will have a huge, huge impact on the balance sheet of this commission because you have to pay for the liabilities,” he said.

Lucas said pushing the resolution back only gives an easier out for delaying addressing the other two plans.

The fire and police pension underwent a major change last week when its board of trustees selected a new investment consultant. Orlando, Florida-based Bogdahn Group, a company that manages $63 billion in assets for pension funds with public institutions, will take over from Independent Portfolio Consultants.

To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623 or find him on Twitter

This story was originally published September 8, 2015 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Macon-Bibb committee pushes fire-police pension hike on to full commission ."