Citizens Submit OPEB Warrant Articles

Several Acton citizens, including members of the Acton Voters Group and editors of the Acton Forum, have filed petitions for two Articles for the April 2012 Annual Town Meeting which will allow town meeting to begin funding our future health-care obligation to town and school retirees.

Called “Other Post-Employment Benefits” or OPEB, the obligation is an unfunded liability that is increasing at a rate of several million dollars a year. The town and schools are currently only paying their out-of-pocket costs of the retirees’ health insurance premiums, which are around $2.1 million per year. The town hired the Segal Company to calculate the unfunded liability and to recommend the amount of additional yearly payments to fully fund this liability within 30 years. Segal estimated the future costs at $100 million in today's dollars, and recommended an additional payment of $8 million starting in FY11 to begin a 30-year funding schedule.

The town has known about this obligation since 2008, when the first Segal report calculated the liability at $83 million. It has grown by $17 million in the last three years with no payments set aside. The recent Segal report shows that if the town fails to make the recommended payments, the annual obligation will continue to grow quickly. Based on the Town Treasurer's calculation of future town and school budgets and adding in the Segal Report's estimate of future out-of-pocket costs, these costs and obligations will grow to about 20% of the total budgets in 14 years and 25% of the budgets in 24 years....

See full article with attachments on Acton Forum: www.ActonForum.com.