Mapp opposed reported GERS board consideration of pension cuts

Gov. Kenneth Mapp said on August 13, 2018, that he opposed any move by the Government Employees’ Retirement System board to cut pension payments to retirees, responding to published reports that the board was weighing benefit reductions.

In a Government House statement, Mapp urged the Legislature to approve bills he had submitted in July 2018 that he said would strengthen the retirement system’s finances and reform the board’s membership.

According to the statement, Mapp’s proposal would direct more than $380 million to GERS over 10 years from expected revenues tied to the restart of refining operations on St. Croix’s south shore. The statement also said his fiscal 2019 budget proposals included increasing the government employer contribution by 3% in each of the next three years and changing caps for pension contributions and calculations.

Mapp said senators had approved the refinery agreement in a special session in July 2018 but had not acted on related legislation he submitted concerning GERS.

He also said the board should not take action as significant as cutting retiree benefits without approval from the governor and Legislature, and called for changes to the board’s composition and the appointment of a new administrator.

Mapp cited an August 10, 2018, Debtwire Municipals article that attributed comments about cutting benefits to GERS legal counsel Cathy Smith. He also said the GERS administrator had written to Senate President Myron Jackson about two weeks earlier asking that a bill involving at least $41 million from the government’s proposed acquisition of Havensight Mall be removed from the Senate agenda.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/governor-denounces-gers-board-consideration-of-benefit-cuts/