New Hampshire Retirement System Updates
New Hampshire Municipal Association Action Alert:
New Hampshire Retirement System Board of Trustees Certifies Rates Effective July 1, 2009;
New 125% Computation May Prove Costly to Employers!
New Hampshire Retirement System 125% Calculator
The New Hampshire Retirement System has posted a 125% calculator on their Web site. To access the calculator, go to www.nhrs.org, click on “News” in the upper right, then click “Current News Releases” and scroll down to the release that says “125% Calculation for Employers, August 11, 2008.” Download the calculator directly: New Hampshire Retirement System 125% Calculator.
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The New Hampshire Municipal Association (NHMA) believes that the New Hampshire Retirement Fund for Public Employees must be:
- BALANCED: A shared responsibility to benefit employers and retirees
- ACCOUNTABLE: A secure, sustainable fund that is actuarially sound
- CERTAIN: A healthy fund delivering certainty for employers and retirees
Resolving the present challenges means doing the right thing for retirees and taxpayers. It does not mean that we do nothing and hope the retirement fund will fix itself.
Decisions made as many as 20 years ago have created serious financial problems with the public employees pension fund. If we don’t correct those problems now:
- Investment earnings alone will not restore the health of the fund.
- The fund will continue performing in the lower third of all U.S. public pension funds, a risky position, which potentially results in even higher employer contribution rates.
- The medical subsidy will result in a surcharge, in addition to the annual contribution rate, that will increase retirement costs for public employers.
- Employer contribution rates will increase substantially, putting property taxpayers at risk, either by increasing taxes or reducing local services.
Public employers have long recognized the value of a retirement plan for public employees. Everyone benefits from a healthy pension fund. In order to help fix the problems in the pension fund, public employers have accepted the obligation to invest an additional $2.7 billion over the next 30 years, in addition to their normal employer contribution rates, to restore the financial health of the fund.
Visit the Legislative Activity page for information about the 2008 legislative session, including links to the 2008 laws. Links to information about the Commission to Study the Long Term Viability of the New Hampshire Retirement System and the Commission’s final report are also provided. For a summary of the 2008 laws followed by NHMA, see the 2008 Final Legislative Bulletin. Retirement-related laws are discussed starting on page 8.
For an update on the 2008 changes and a look at what's coming in 2009, don't miss "The Politics of Pension Reform" session at the LGC Annual Conference on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at the Radisson Hotel Manchester. Visit the annual conference page to download the complete conference brochure.
If you have any questions or need additional information, contact the Government Affairs staff at 800.852.3358 or e-mail governmentaffairs@nhlgc.org.
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