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NMIRF seeks consultant’s opinion on PSS exemption
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Posted on Sep 14 2005
Uneasy over the Legislature’s approval of a bill that would exempt the Public School System from paying an increased rate in its employer contribution, the NMI Retirement Fund has sought the opinion of its actuarial consultant in hopes of bolstering its position against the measure.
“We’ve asked our consultant to give us an analysis on a particular situation if one agency is paying a different rate from others,” said Fund administrator Karl T. Reyes in an interview.
The Fund has been opposed to the passage of House Bill 14-369, which seeks to exempt PSS from paying the employer contribution rate of 36.7 percent, which was increased from 24 percent.
The rate increase was recommended in a 2003 actuarial study done by Bucks Consultant.
Reyes said the Fund would submit the consultant’s analysis on the PSS exemption to the governor.
“We’d submit our position to the governor to convince him that he should not sign the bill,” said Reyes.
He said that if the bill is signed into law, other agencies might also seek the same reprieve, posing undue risks to the Fund’s fiscal situation.
Both the House and the Senate have already passed the bill. Senators Diego Songao and Luis Crisostimo had abstained from voting on it while Rep. Ramon Tebuteb said he opposed it.
H.B. 14-396, authored by Rep. David M. Apatang, aims to extend the exemption to PSS for five years.
Reyes that the implementation of the 12 percent rate increase takes effect on Oct. 1 this year.
He said the Commonwealth Ports Authority and the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. had been willing to comply with the new rate since the notice was issued three months ago. But he said the Fund decided to push back the implementation to October to “ensure fairness and uniformity” among government offices.
The Department of Finance earlier said that the rate increase is not covered under the continuing resolution.
