The Department of Administration is working to get an actuary to study the impact of increasing the unfunded liability to the Government of Guam Retirement Fund by October.
A team, consisting of DOA and BBMR officials, are negotiating with an off-island company on the cost and details of the contract.
“We hope to complete negotiations soon and have a contract within the next two to three weeks. Once done the study would begin and we will have something to report to our taxpayers in the next few months,” stated Christine Baleto, DOA director.
Currently, Vice Speaker BJ Cruz’s proposed Defined Benefits 1.75 plan could increase the unfunded liability of the Retirement Fund by as much as $173 million and cause the government to potentially shoulder $16 to $20 million in retirement contributions per year.
The Vice Speaker’s proposal aims to primarily help about 2,500 GovGuam employees who are within a few years of retirement. But the level of assistance to these employees, as well as the full impact to taxpayers and other GovGuam employees, is not certain.
“It is important we push through with this study because it will take into account the amendments made to the Vice Speaker’s proposal that are not reflected in the existing actuarial report,” Baleto stated. “The study assures we are acting responsibly with taxpayer dollars.”
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