Vanderslice Warns on Teacher Pension Bill

WILTON, CT — The state legislature’s Education Committee will take testimony Friday on a bill that would result in Wilton kicking in money for teacher pensions previously contributed by the state.

HB 7150, the Governor Lamont's implementer bill for his teacher pension sharing proposal, would require local school district/municipal participation in the cost of the annual pension contribution for their current teachers.

"Non-distressed" towns, of which Wilton is one, would contribute 25 percent of the plan's normal current teacher contribution, plus 1 percent for every 1 percent the municipality's average teacher's salary exceed the state median pensionable salary. For Wilton, that would be 50 percent, according to First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice. The costs would be phased in over three years, in payments of $463,000, $956,000 and $1,389,000.

"There is plenty of blame to go around starting back in the 1930s when the state began offering pensions, but didn't make the required contributions," Vanderslice wrote on Facebook. "Also it was a poor decision to negotiate pension separately from wages and other benefits, but that is where we are with the state negotiating the pension and the BOE negotiating wages, and the other elements of our contract with the teachers."

Towns currently have no say in pension negotiations, and Vanderslice reckons they should if they are going to get stuck with part of the tab.

The proposal requires union concessions, "which will be a big hurdle," Vanderslice wrote.