The Government Employees’ Retirement System Board of Trustees knows it must send out around $23 million in annuity checks each month, so on Thursday, board members asked, as they usually do at their monthly meeting, if enough money was coming in.
Board Member Andre Dorsey wanted to know if the government was resisting the board’s recent decision to raise the government’s contribution to the system by 3 percent.
Angel Dawson, the GERS administrator, said he had not seen any and added that it did not matter because the system had the authority to raise the contribution level. Dawson said the 26.5 percent for employer contribution would go into effect at the beginning of 2025.
Dorsey said that the system had been wading into financially troubling waters since the plan for its rescue was based on receiving the rum cover-over funds at $13.25 per proof gallon, but the federal government was only approving $10.50. Dorsey said that actuaries were raising the possibility that GERS could be on the road to insolvency in 2037 or 2038.
Delegate Stacey Plaskett had recommended that rescue plan calculations be based on the lower proof gallon rate, but they weren’t.
As the hotel construction on the GERS property in Havensight has been progressing and is over half completed, Trustee Nellon Bowry wanted to know if GERS was collecting lease payments from the developers. After discussing who was responsible for collecting the lease payments, a copy of the lease agreement was found. The document showed that no lease payments were to be made until the hotel was open. Dawson said the amount to be paid was not a figure to be released publicly.
The Trustees approved an amendment to a contract with Advance Restoration Services, Inc. The original contract was to repair the southern section of the roof at GERS St. Thomas Complex. The amendment adds $64,000 so the company can also repair the western section of the roof.
In addition to the trustee meeting, the GERS held a 65th-anniversary open house for active and retired members on Thursday on St. Croix. On Friday, the system will hold an Open House at its St. Thomas office from 1 to 5 p.m.
The number of retirees receiving benefits from GERS is nearing 9,000.
