Understanding the options with the Town's underfunded pensions

A couple weeks ago I gave my version of the history (of the past few years) of the Council's actions on the Town pension plans. IMO, one of the key considerations for the Council is the recognition that not all employees are the same.

In terms of postretirement benefits, I see most employees belonging to one of four categories:And in a nutshell, the Council has had the opportunity to truly move from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans. But instead, they dawdle.

Keeping in mind that the defined bene's plan now has about $43 million in assets and more than $60 million in liabilities... we know that we are pretty dramatically underfunded. And anyone can see that's an issue.

I was going to get into this some more, but it's late. So, later this week, I'll post some possible scenarios for how this could evolve.

And a special thanks to Cheshire resident Mike Ulicki for following this with zeal. Government needs an informed electorate to keep it on its toes. And though the town pension may be boring to most Council members, it's a huge issue of which we must be aware.

Tim White