Retirement Funds Delayed

Arkansas lawmakers said last week they want more information from officials at the State Police Retirement System before acting on Gov. Mike Beebe’s plan to support it with $9 million of the state’s surplus.

Gail Stone, who oversees the state police fund as director of the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System, told legislators that the value of investments held by the police system fell from $192 million in September 2008 to about $143 million currently.

The $9 million is the equivalent of what state employees pay into the system over 12 months, she said, and would allow the system to avoid long-term problems.

Stone said the fund’s problems are the result of several factors, ranging from generous benefits approved in the early 1990s to a drop in contributions when state troopers who belong to the National Guard are assigned to duty in Iraq.

The state police system includes 555 working members who receive an average annual salary of $46,687 and 445 retirees and beneficiaries whose benefits totaled $14.2 million in fiscal 2008.

A legislative proposal to merge the administrative functions of the state police system into the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System while keeping the funds separate would save the police system $35 million to $45 million over 30 years, Stone said.

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