NEW CASTLE —
Even though Lawrence County’s pension fund gained nearly $4 million last year, retirees won’t be getting a raise.
Joel Bender of Merrill Lynch, manager of the pension fund, gave the county retirement board an overall report of the fund in 2012 at its quarterly meeting Tuesday.
At year’s end, the fund was invested 36 percent in portfolio bonds and 53 percent in stocks. The remaining 11 percent was in cash.
The fourth quarter was basically flat with zero percent returns, Bender said. And year to date, it is up 9.3 percent in performance.
Last year started with $43,366,096 in the fund and ended with $47,315,948, Bender said — a $3.9 million gain.
The retirement board set the interest rate paid to the plan for vested employees at 4 percent, the same as last year, which is the minimum by law.
Last month, the board unanimously voted down a cost-of-living increase for county retirees for 2013 because the county has to pay $1.5 million into the retirement fund this year, Gettings explained after the meeting.
The cost the county would have borne in a cost-of-living increase under the Consumer Price Index “was going to be astronomical for the county, over $1.7 million.”
The county would have had to pay a total $3 million into the fund, Gettings pointed out.
“It was my recommendation that (the board) couldn’t possibly do that without (the commissioners) raising taxes,” he said, adding, “They deserve an increase, that’s not the point, but right now it’s not affordable.”
The county’s contribution to the pension fund last year was $1.1 million. It is significantly higher this year because of three factors, Gettings said. He cited the performance of the investment market as the largest factor, the number of county retirees drawing a pension and the age of the people getting pensions.
Currently the county has 282 pensioners.
Gettings pointed out the county paid $2,369,226 in annuities to retirees last year. It paid $231,146 in refunds to people who left the county’s employ and it paid $24,364 in death benefits. Administrative costs totaled $161,026.
The board also received a letter from Merrill Lynch informing it that after 35 years, the company no longer will invest the county’s retirement money, as it is exiting the public funds business.
Bender wrote the county a letter advising that the county’s portfolio will continue to be managed by Merrill Lynch investment manager Jay Post of BlackRock, but the county must hire a new custodian of the funds.
Gettings said the county will have to shop around for a new custodian, such as a local banking institution.
(Email: dwachter@ncnewsonline.com)
TOP STORIES
Related Photos
Discussion
No raise for county retirees this year
- TOP STORIES
-
-
Primary 2013: Former superintendent earns New Castle board nomination
Voters nominated four candidates for four-year terms in each of Lawrence County’s eight school districts yesterday. New Castle and Ellwood City had candidates running on one ballot only, but all others crossfiled, meaning they appeared on both Republican and Democratic ballots.
-
Primary 2013 Briefs: Voters stay home in droves
Less than one-fifth of Lawrence County’s eligible voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s primary. The Lawrence County Board of Elections reported that 9,291 — or 17.1 percent — of the 54,342 eligible voters turned out Tuesday.
-
Photo Gallery, Video: Procession, flag-waving crowds salute fallen policeman
Throngs of people crowded along East Washington Street Wednesday, paying final tribute to fallen officer William J. “Jerry” McCarthy IV. A motorcade of about 20 motorcycles and more than 200 police cruisers, all with flashing red and blue lights, created a sensation as it rode slowly toward Shenango Township.
-
Primary 2013: Former mayor wins city council nomination
New Castle City Council will have three new members next year as a result of Tuesday’s primary. Tim Fulkerson and Anthony J. Adamo won the two Democratic nominations for four-year terms.
-
Primary 2013: Township voters nominate supervisors, auditors, tax collectors
Voters selected their candidates for township offices in Lawrence County Tuesday. Voters in all 16 townships will elect one supervisor each to six-year terms.
-
Lawrence County Primary 2013
The New Castle News is covering the 2013 primary in Lawrence County with stories, photo galleries and video clips from local polling places.
-
Primary 2013: Six candidates seeking City Council nominations
Six Democratic candidates are seeking their party’s nominations for three seats in Tuesday’s primary. Voters will nominate two candidates on both Republican and Democratic ballots for four-year terms and one candidate for a two-year term.
-
New Castle Schools: District answers two state audit findings
New Castle school district administration answered two of the findings in a state auditor general’s preliminary report. The audit, which has not yet been finalized, covered the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years. The preliminary report also contains an observation, which the district answered.
-
New Castle Schools: Finding pinpoints nonpaying out-of-district pupils
New Castle school board members are waiting for the final determinations of a state audit that contained three preliminary findings. Earlier this month the board publicly discussed those findings from the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years, and the district administration has responded to two of them to the Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General.
-
Photo Gallery, Story: Ceremony remembers fallen officers
Last year there were 12. This year, there are 13. The law enforcement community paused Thursday to remember Lawrence County’s fallen officers in a ceremony outside the New Castle police station.
- More TOP STORIES Headlines
-
