Sonoma County has eased its pension liability by paying down its debts early and getting good results from investments.
Sonoma County’s “pension tension” is finally easing up a bit—as the county’s unfunded pension liability has been reduced by 37% since 2020, according to a report.
The county’s unfunded pension liability—the gap between the assets in the pension plan for County of Sonoma employees and the amount owed to retirees—dropped to $392 million in June 2024, down from $625 million at the same point in 2020.
The progress is the result of “strong investment returns” and the county’s decision to make early payments on the pension debt, thus saving interest costs, according to the sixth annual State of the Retirement System report released Oct. 22.
The county’s pension system supports 4,242 active employees, 5,760 retirees and beneficiaries, and 1,765 former employees who have not yet started collecting benefits.
The pension plan for county employees contained $3.5 billion in assets at the end of 2023, up from $3.31 billion at the end of 2022. It was 93.9% funded as of Dec. 31, 2023, up from 92.4% a year earlier. “In comparison, CalPERS, the retirement system for state workers, was 75% funded at the end of the 2023-24 fiscal year last June,” county officials pointed out in an announcement of the report.
Check out the full report at sonoma-county.legistar.com
