Pensioners, local, state governments discuss funding options for fire pension

SHERIDAN — The Wyoming Legislature’s Appropriations Committee had its first look at a bill draft that could help fund the state’s quickly-depleting Fire A pension in Cheyenne Thursday.

But the draft bill is most notable for what’s not in it yet, according to Rep. Mark Kinner, R-Sheridan, who serves on the appropriations committee. Five sections of the draft have been left blank, giving legislators the responsibility of filling in the numbers, which will help generate the $150 million needed to make the pension account whole.

“There is a lot of conversation left on this,” Kinner told The Sheridan Press. “Nothing is set in stone.”

Among the blanks the legislators will have to fill in coming months are: how much money the state will contribute to the pension; how much money participating cities and counties — including Sheridan with 25 pensioners — will contribute; how much pensioner benefits will be reduced; how much spousal benefits will be reduced; and whether the legislature will remove the existing 3% cost-of-living-adjustment in place for the pensioners, Kinner said.

The Wyoming Retirement System’s Fire A Pension Plan is a plan for paid firefighters hired before July 1, 1981. All subsequent hires have been placed in a Fire B Pension Plan, which has reduced benefits compared to the A plan. The A plan is currently funded at a level of $82 million and serves 260 pensioners and their spouses.

Read more: https://www.thesheridanpress.com/news/local/pensioners-local-state-governments-discuss-funding-options-for-fire-pension/article_5111aa6a-149f-11ec-9a82-7b484c0cceb5.html