Auditor General DePasquale Urges Municipalities to Update Pension, Volunteer Firefighter Relief Association Information

Data due by March 31 will be used to determine amount of state aid

March 19 2014

Auditor General DePasquale Urges Municipalities to Update Pension, Volunteer Firefighter Relief Association Information
Data due by March 31 will be used to determine amount of state aid

HARRISBURG (March 19, 2014)– Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today urged municipal officials to submit updated information for the state’s municipal pension system and volunteer firefighter relief association programs by March 31.

Municipal officials received a letter in January requesting information for full-time police officers, paid firefighters and non-uniformed employees who are part of a municipal pension plan.

The letter also asked municipal officials who wish to receive a distribution of the out-of-state fire insurance tax to certify whether its fire protection service is provided solely by paid or by volunteer firefighters, or if provided by both, the percentage of actual fire protection service provided by each type of firefighter. The funds are distributed annually to municipalities, which are responsible for funding nearly 1,950 VFRAs. The funds benefit communities by enabling the purchase of training, equipment and insurance, and pay for death benefits for volunteer firefighters.

“We want to ensure police, paid firefighters and municipal employees are getting everything they earned and to which they are entitled,” DePasquale said. “We also want to see that volunteer firefighters are getting every penny they so desperately need to serve and protect our communities.”

On an annual basis, municipalities provide the Pennsylvania Employee Retirement Commission (PERC) the number of employees, payroll, and the actuarial costs of their pension plans. Municipalities also must certify this information with the auditor general. The data is used by the auditor general’s office to compute the amount of state aid that is due the municipal pension fund.

In 2013, $248 million was distributed to 2,642 local government pension plans, including 963 police, 81 firefighter and 1,598 non-uniformed municipal employee pension plans. An additional $72 million was released to nearly 1,950 volunteer firefighter relief associations to purchase equipment, training, insurance and to pay for death benefits.

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