Legislation (A-4998/S-3090) which provides police and fire personnel a retirement allowance after 20 years of service, regardless of age unanimously passed the Senate earlier this week and is before the full Assembly on March 30. The League joins the New Jersey Association of Counties in our continued opposition to enhanced benefits. The additional costs will be borne by the taxpayers at a time when local governments can least afford it.
P.L. 2021, c. 52 permitted police and fire employees to retire after 20 years regardless of age and receive a retirement allowance equal to 50% of the member’s final compensation. However, the law will expire after two years in May. The purpose of the two-year expansion was to study the impact the enhanced benefit would have on the pension system.
In the Senate Budget Committee statement, it is noted that “the Office of Legislative Services (OLS) anticipates this bill will result in an indeterminate increase in the annual contributions required to be paid by the State and local governments to the PFRS. It is not known how many PFRS members will retire to receive the benefit provided by this bill. The increase in the unfunded liability resulting from this bill will be determined by the actuary for the PFRS and will be funded over time.”
Contact: Lori Buckelew, Deputy Executive Director & Director of Government Affairs, lbuckelew@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x112.