Wood County Teacher Retirement Association considers dissolving plan

Members asked to vote on future; funds expected to run out in 6-8 years

PARKERSBURG -- Members of the Wood County Teachers Retirement Association this week will be asked to vote on dissolving the local retirement fund.

Officials say if the retirement program continues, it will run out of money within the next seven to eight years, but if dissolved now, all members would be refunded their contributions.

The association will hold a public information meeting at 6:30 p.m. today at Jefferson Elementary Center and a vote will begin Friday for active members. Retirees will receive ballots by mail.

The Wood County Teachers Retirement Association was established in 1938 before West Virginia offered a state retirement plan. The association is a separate entity from the Wood County Board of Education, though the board president and superintendent of Wood County Schools are on the retirement board.

Blennerhassett Elementary School Principal Justin Hartshorn, finishing his third year on the retirement board, said the association has only a six-to-seven month window to refund contributions. If members wait longer than that, there won't be enough funding left to do 100 percent refunds, he said.

"There is a short time window where we can return everyone's initial investment," Hartshorn said.

To receive the benefit, a teacher had to be a member of the association for 20 years and would receive $70 a month, or $840 annually, plus $1 for every year worked past the 20 year mark.

Originally members paid in $10 a month over a 10-month period. In 2013, the contribution was increased from $10 a month to $20 a month over a 10-month period.

"It takes about four active members to offset one person that is retired," Hartshorn said.

Hartshorn said the fund, which now is about $2.5 million, has faced multiple problems. The number of teacher paying into the retirement fund has declined while the number of retirees has increased. The plan now has 979 active members and 639 retiree members.

Since it began in 1938, the retirement funds were simply held in an account, generating little to no interest, he said. Those funds were invested through Wells Fargo in 2016, and now earn about 5-6 percent annually, but Hartshorn said officials estimate the retirement fund is a $10 million unfunded liability.

"It's not gong to be able to sustain itself," he said. "It's going to collapse one day."

Hartshorn said while officials estimate the fund could last another six to eight years, if association members vote to keep it active, many participating members likely will drop out because they'll see no benefit.

"All the people working now are not going to see anything," he said. "It's a tough situation to be in."

The Wood County Board of Education also spends about $235,000 annually from its unrestricted funds to cover $30 of the $70 paid monthly to retirees. Though the association's bylaws said the board contribution is required, "there is no where in (school board) policy that states that. It's just past practice that they've done that," Hartshorn said.

If the school board stopped paying those dollars, the retirement fund "could fall on its face in two years," he said.

Olcott said he is in a unique situation as both the school board president, a member of the association board, and the only association board member who is not part of the Wood County Teachers Retirement Association.

Olcott said the Board of Education began looking at the retirement program and the school system's financial contribution during recent discussion of the budget. The school system also provides administrative support for the retiree payments.

"Future support for the WCTRA will depend on what occurs over the next few months with the WCTRA member decisions, and the collective will of the five (school) board members in the spring budgeting session," Olcott said. "It's too early to predict what those decisions may be."

Contact Michael Erb at merb@newsandsentinel.com.