Southwest Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters Pension Plan, Independence, was approved to reduce benefits as part of a plan to remain solvent, according to the Treasury Department's website listing applications under the Kline-Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014.
The pension fund has 5,487 participants, of which 4,312 will be affected by benefit reductions averaging 14.7%, which would go into effect in March. At the time of the pension fund's June 2018 MPRA application, it was 49.3% funded, with $227 million in assets and $460 million in liabilities as of plan year 2017. Without benefit cuts, the pension fund was projected to be insolvent by 2036.
The next step is for participants and beneficiaries of the pension fund to vote on the proposed suspensions, which will go into effect unless a majority of them vote to reject them.
To date, the Treasury Department has approved 13 MPRA applications for benefit suspensions and denied five; another three applications are under review.
