Albany commissioners consider adding elected officials to pension plan
Special Photo: City of Albany
By Carlton Fletcher
carlton.fletcher
@albanyherald.com
ALBANY — Albany city commissioners will determine, either at their business meeting Tuesday evening or at the same meeting next month, whether to add elected officials to the city’s pension plan.
While exact wording of a draft amendment to make elected officials available for pension consideration is not officially set, if the ordinance passes it would come with an initial cost of $109,000 in retroactive pay to “catch up” and an annual cost to the city of around $13,800, according to Albany Chief Financial Officer Derrick Brown.
Brown said Ward I Albany City Commissioner Jon Howard, the longest-serving member of the board, is pushing for the amendment to add elected officials to the city pension plan, an action that Brown and Albany City Attorney Nathan Davis said is “more common than I expected.”
“In doing research on the proposed amendment, I found (adding elected officials to pension plans) is a lot more typical than I expected,” Davis said. “I found a long list of cities that include their elected officials in their plan.”
Brown, too, said he was surprised by the number of cities that include elected officials in their pension plans.
“It’s a little more common than I initially thought,” the city’s top financial official said. “The issue was first brought up at the commission’s (February) retreat, and I’ve provided additional feedback — like costs — through March and April. I got with our actuary and our pension board, and Nathan came up with a draft amendment.
“I don’t know if the commission is ready to vote on the amendment at this month’s business meeting (Tuesday). They asked some questions and talked about some changes. If they decide to make the changes, the vote will have to come next month. If they decide to leave the draft amendment as it is, they can vote on it (Tuesday).”
Some of the provisions of the current amendment include a minimum period of service, set now at two consecutive four-year terms, and making the pension payment retroactive to 2012. Among current commissioners, only Howard, Ward V Commissioner Bob Langstaff and Mayor Bo Dorough, who served on the commission before being elected to the city’s top office, are eligible under those provisions.
There are, however, members of the board who are not interested in adding to the city’s financial obligations.
“I’m not supportive of anything that gives (prospective commission members) an additional financial reason to stay in office too long,” Ward IV Commissioner Chad Warbington said. “What this amounts to, essentially, is a salary increase with the retroactive pay. When we ran for office, we knew what the pay was. I don’t think this is why the people elected us.”
Brown said that, after the initial payment of $109,000, the city would add a $13,800 annual contribution to keep elected officials in the plan, while commissioners would pay $900 to the plan annually and the mayor $1,500.
“It concerns me that the draft amendment now makes participation mandatory,” Warbington said. “My first objection is that a pension is an archaic form of benefit. There are much better products. Plus, I don’t think we’ve talked about this to the point that we’re ready to vote on it.
“I’ll be honest with you, I think it will be a challenge to get four votes on this.”
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