Ohio public pension funds want employers to pay more toward retirement

Ohio's three biggest public retirement systems are asking lawmakers to require cities, counties, school districts and other government agencies to pay more toward the public employees' pensions − expenses that would eventually trickle down to taxpayers.

Most changes to public pension benefits require legislative approval in Ohio.

Ohio Public Employees Retirement System Director Karen Carraher on Tuesday recommended asking lawmakers to let the fund increase employer contributions to 18%, up from the current 14%, for most workers and boost them higher for law enforcement workers. The rate increases could be phased in over time.

For the largest single employer in OPERS, Ohio State University, the change would cost an additional $34 million a year, according to the pension fund's analysis.

OPERS is the latest pension fund to signal that it'll lobby for higher employer contribution rates.

What are plans for teacher, police and fire funds?

State Teachers Retirement System plans to ask for a law change to require school districts to contribute 18% of payroll to pensions, up from the current 14%. If approved, the change would cost districts an additional $533 million a year.

And two Republican state representatives, Cindy Abrams and Thomas Hall, introduced a bill earlier this month to increase the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund employer contribution rate to 24% for all first responders. Currently, employers contribute 24% for firefighters and 19% for police. That change would cost public employers an extra $56 million a year.

Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund doesn't represent all first responders. Some law enforcement employees are covered by Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. Carraher recommended that the employer contribution rate for police and fire be the same across both pension systems.

A similar bill introduced last legislative session to shore up the police and fire pension fund failed to pass.

Ohio Municipal League Director Kent Scarrett said cities and villages that employ public employees, including firefighters and police officers, shouldn't face an unfunded mandate to pay more toward pensions.

"The impacts will be real on the limited amount of revenues that municipalities have to work with," he said.

Carraher said she knows employers are concerned about the impact rate increases would have on their budgets. She added that she believes the Ohio General Assembly would take a comprehensive look at contribution rates across all the pension funds, rather than do ad hoc changes.

Ohio has five public pension systems that serve 2.28 million current and former government employees and retirees. Public employees in Ohio do not participate in Social Security so the state pension systems are their main retirement funds.

A decade ago, lawmakers approved sweeping changes to public pensions that required employees to work longer for fewer benefits.

Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio's biggest public pension funds seek more money from taxpayers