Cheshire Town Council to Take On Pension Funding

The town's Pension Board will soon make a presentation to the Town Council about the fund that take about one mill of funding a year and is expected to rise.

Councilman Thomas Ruocco told the council recently that the board will recommend that changes be made to the assumptions as to how much of a return the town can expect on the investments that fund the pension.

The assumed interest rate is now 8.25 percent, he said, but the board will recommend that the assumption is decreased to 7.5 percent, meaning that it will cost the town more to fund the pension.

Currently the town contributes more than $2 million a year to the fund, Ruocco said, in addition to an annual $450,000 payment to make up for past deficiencies. 

"This is a significant liability to keep up with every year," Ruocco said.

It will be up to the council to decide how to handle the situation, he said.

The cost of the pension fund equals about 1/27th of the entire town budget, council chairman Tim Slocum said.

"It's significant," he said.