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Pension Contributions Will Go Up, Casper crowd told By Dan Neal Equality State Policy Center Casper C draws m A November prediction from the chairman of the Wyoming Retirement System may be fulilled sooner rather than later. Steve Sommers, chair of the Wyoming Retirement System (WRS) board of directors, spoke at a question-and-answer session at the last of a series of town hall meetings on Wyoming's public pension system on Nov. 28. He forecast then that public employees in Wyoming will be asked to contribute more of their pay to ensure that the state public pension system will meet its obligations over the long term. On Thursday, Dec. 13, the Joint Appropriations Committee directed its staff to prepare legislation for the coming session that would do just that. The Casper town hall meeting last month attracted more than 100 people anxious to know more about the system and its health. Several expressed concerns about a weekly Casper newspaper's 20 WINTER 2012 Winter 2012.indd 20 report on the value of teacher pensions on public perception of the system. Several said that they considered the story misleading because its estimates of the value of an "average" pension rested on assumptions they believed overvalued the beneit by assuming a very long life for a retiree. The report also focused narrowly on estimating value and did not point out the value of pension payments to community economies across the state. Natrona County High School art teacher Sheila McHattie told the more than 100 teachers, ire ighters, college instructors and other staffers in attendance that Wyoming's deined beneit pension system helps retain teachers in her district, especially young math and science teachers who could ind work elsewhere relatively easily. The Wyoming system remains healthy but must be managed carefully, Wyoming Retirement System Director Thom Williams asserted again, just as he has done at three previous town hall meetings staged by the WEA and its allies in the Coalition for a Healthy Retirement System. Williams explained the system and the changes made by the Legislature during the 2012 session. He noted that increasing employee contributions is one of several levers system managers can use to assure the system's ability to meet its beneit obligations over time. Board Chair Sommers joined Williams to answer questions. Other members of the state retirement board also attended the town hall meeting in the Nichols Auditorium at Casper College. The event provided another opportunity to note that teachers, ire ighters, nurses and other public servants rely on the state system to provide a stable income around which they can build their retirement income plans. The | WEAnews 12/14/12 3:24 PM