Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is asking towns to contribute to the costs of their teachers’ pensions as part of his proposed 2018/2019 fiscal year biennial budget presented to the state Legislature on Wednesday.
Currently, the state pays 100% of the employer contribution to the $15.8 billion Teachers’ Retirement System. The governor’s proposed budget asks the municipalities where they work to contribute a third of those costs. This year, the state government is set to contribute $1.2 billion.
The teachers pension fund “has always been funded without any contribution from towns or cities. My budget does not propose that we demolish that system or shift the entire costs to towns,” Mr. Malloy said when presenting his proposed budget at the state capital. “But this year … we need towns to begin sharing the cost of their employees’ pensions.”
Mr. Malloy added: “As such, my budget asks our towns and cities — all of them — to contribute one-third of the cost toward their teacher pensions.”
In addition, the proposed budget stays below its $18 billion spending cap and grows at a pace well below inflation, while making the required increase in contributions — more than $357 million — to the state’s pension systems in the first year.