Ocean City pension expenses decline for fiscal year ‘15

The city will be looking at a considerable amount of budget headroom for the current fiscal year, with 2015 pension contributions having come in significantly less expensive than anticipated.

However, Finance Administrator Martha Bennett urged the city council this week to hold off of appropriating any of the budget surplus to other projects, given that next year’s pension contribution may not come in as low.

“Remember that our pension valuations are April-to-April. This report gives you a snapshot of what our plans looked like in April 2015. In the last six months, the markets have not done as well,” Bennett noted.

The city contribution to its pension plans is determined each year by an actuarial study, which looks at the town’s employee base and estimates what the cost will be to support that group after they retire. The difference between what the city currently has in its trust funds, and what the estimated future liability comes out to be, is paid off with contributions over several years.

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