Police and Non Uniform Pension Accounts Weather the Economic Recession

The Upper Saucon Board of Supervisors saw a presentation by PNC representative, Paul Kamor, on the status of police and non uniform pension accounts. Kamor gave the board positive news. “The pension accounts weathered those storms fairly well,” Kamor said, referring to the recession and high unemployment rate.

The pension accounts took a hit in the first half of 2010. Lower quality stocks were on the rise while higher quality stocks stagnated. “We maintain higher quality stocks in both portfolios,” Kamor said, explaining the initial drop in the first half of last year.

In spite of early setbacks, the pension accounts for both police and non uniform officers saw returns in the second half of 2010. “The total returns for the police pension was 10.5%,” Kamor said. “Police pension did quite well and non uniform did very near to that.” The non uniform pension account saw a 10.15% return in 2010.

Looking ahead, Kamor said he expected the accounts to continue to rise through 2011. “We’re looking at positive economic growth,” he said. Kamor expects the accounts will grow by 2.5-3% over the next year.

Kamor summed up PNC’s work on both pension funds: “since we’ve had the portfolio, two years now, we’ve had 16.3% returns.”

Police Chief Robert Coyle explained the importance of the pension plan in a phone interview. “The pension plan is very important. For many retired officers, that’s their sole source of income." According to Chief Coyle, there are 6 families currently supported by the police pensions plan.