By L. Parsons Last week the Navajo County Board of Supervisors held a special meeting to address the debt owed to the county’s public service retirement liability. Arizona’s Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS) liability calculation is based upon a number of variables and assumptions, from interest rates to life expectancy. This system is in place to provide retirement benefits for the state’s municipal and county law enforcement but as pension benefits are accrued through their work, the monetary requirement to maintain the fund is greater than most county and municipal entities in the state can afford. At the Board of Supervisor’s meeting last month, Navajo County Finance Director Jayson Vowell stated that the county was being charged a 7.3% interest rate from the PSPRS system to pay back the county’s $16 million liability, making the total debt $25 million over the payment time period. At this meeting Vowell explained, “On our current plan, we would pay that off in about 17 years. In September we presented a scenario in which we can finance with bonds, effectively saving the county cash value of a little over $11 million over the next 17 years. This resolution will allow us to go forward with the sale and our revenue obligation and effectively be 100% funded in regards to our pension plan and save the county money.” The supervisors approved the budget amendment in the amount of $17 million to fund payment of bond proceeds to PSRS. This will be in the form of a transfer of excess budget capacity of $10 million from ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act), $5 million from the employee benefits trust account and $2 million from the general fund. All votes were unanimous with all supervisors attending telephonically.
