Pa.'s largest pension plan admits making an 'error' that may have benefited teachers at taxpayers'

Pa.’s largest pension plan admits making an ‘error’ that may have benefited teachers at taxpayers’ expense


The board of Pennsylvania’s giant public-school pension fund on Friday voted to hire an outside law firm to investigate an error in a December financial decision that may have cost taxpayers at least $25 million in fund payments — while wrongly sparing 100,000 school employees from paying more for their pensions.

The unanimous vote followed a 3 1/3-hour closed-door meeting of the 14-member PSERS board as it explored whether it erred in a crucial meeting in December in which members concluded the fund had just barely met a key financial target for investments.

If it made such a mistake, the error could make a big difference in whether some teachers have to pay more out of their paychecks to support their pensions.

In a reform imposed by the legislature and governor, the fund adopted a so-called “risk-sharing” rule some years ago that requires educators and staff to pay extra if PSERS fails to meet its investment return target.

Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/business/psers-pa-pension-school-employees-taxpayers-20210313.html