Kentucky League of Cities Urges CERS, KRS Split
Despite double-digit returns for KRS, coalition is one of 23 groups calling for the separation.
The Kentucky League of Cities is pushing harder for splitting a problematic pension fund from the one it’s dragging down with it.
In a forum Monday evening, the coalition discussed that among the state’s overall pension problems—which Gov. Matt Bevin has been working diligently to reform—one of the key solutions to getting the state back on track is by divorcing the County Employee Retirement System (CERS) from the floundering Kentucky Retirement Systems (KRS).
According to officials at the forum, CERS continues to grow and is in decent financial shape. KRS is not: although the $16 billion fund returned double digits for the fiscal year, the overall funded status is still a concern..
The League of Cities is one of 23 groups calling for the separation. They also propose local control for local pensions, citing further pension reform to CERS would damage worker retirements.
“CERS is not in peril. Senate Bill 2 from 2013 stopped the bleeding and put us on that upward trajectory to sustainability,” Bryanna Carroll, governmental affairs manager for the Kentucky League of Cities, told WKYT. “We do not understand the need to make any more reforms to CERS.”
Bevin is expected to address pension reform in a special session in the fall.
Resolutions supporting the separation of CERS from KRS have been passed by almost three dozen cities across the commonwealth.