Teacher Pension Merger Needs 12,343 to Transfer
By Phil Kabler
philk@wvgazette.com
Twelve thousand, three hundred and forty-three.
That’s the minimum number of Teachers Defined Contribution participants who must elect to switch to the Teachers Retirement System for the merger of the state’s teacher pension plans to go through.
“If 12,342 people vote to transfer, it doesn’t go, and everybody stays in TDC,” Anne Lambright, executive director of the Consolidated Public Retirement Board, told board members Wednesday.
She said retirement board employees had verified that there were exactly 18,989 active employees in TDC as of Dec. 31.
Under legislation passed earlier this month, a minimum of 65 percent of those employees must elect to transfer into TRS for the switch to occur.
If 14,214 opt to switch, the transfers would reach the 75 percent mark, which would kick in a much lower rate for teachers and school personnel to buy in for full TRS pensions.
(Those who switch but don’t opt for a buy-in would be eligible for a pension equal to 75 percent of regular TRS benefits.)
For state retirement board employees, the transfer election will make for a very busy six weeks, leading up to the May 12 deadline for TDC participants to submit their transfer forms.
On Wednesday, Lambright outlined the board’s plan for the next six weeks:
* To date, the retirement board has sent letters and transfer forms to all TDC participants, and opened a special toll-free call center to field questions about the transfer (the number is 866-413- 3985).
* Next week, a 16-page brochure detailing the TDC/TRS merger proposal will go out to all TDC participants.
Also next week, the retirement board will host “train the trainers” seminars. Under the law, each county must have two representatives to go into the schools to discuss the transfer options with TDC participants.
* In two weeks, the board will launch a special Web site for TDC participants, www.ben efitmodeling.com/wv/choose yourplan. Participants will be able to input their financial information, and the site will generate models comparing expected pension benefits if they stay in TDC and if they switch to TRS.
* On April 17, the retirement board will mail personalized statements to each TDC participant.
Those statements will show the current value of the individual’s 401(k)-style account, with projected assets at age 60 and 65, as well as a summary of benefits the person would receive under TRS.
“We want every single detail to be clear,” Lambright said.
* May 5: Under the law, each school and work site in the state is to hold a “transfer day” with posters, balloons and other promotional materials, intended to remind TDC participants that the deadline to make a decision is one week away.
* May 6-12: The “nag period,” when principals or site supervisors will be encouraged to contact anyone who hasn’t submitted a transfer form to remind them of the transfer deadline.
* May 12: Last day that TDC participants can either mail in transfer forms, or submit them to their supervisors.
* May 13: Last day that supervisors can mail in transfer forms.
* May 31: Deadline for the accounting firm of Arnett and Foster to certify transfer participation results to the CPRB.
“We will know by the end of May whether this goes or doesn’t go,” Lambright said.
* June 5: Deadline for the CPRB to certify the transfer election results to the governor and Legislature.
“It is certainly a tight schedule,” Lambright said. “We’ve all been working pretty hard to get it done.”
One encouraging sign, Lambright said, is that as of Tuesday evening, 32 TDC participants had already submitted transfer forms, including several who hand-delivered the forms to the board’s offices in Kanawha City.
“Many people have been waiting for this day for years,” board member Bill McGinley said of the early submissions. “They’re not going to slow it down.”
To contact staff writer Phil Kabler, use e-mail or call 348- 1220.
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