IN THE COUNTY LEGISLATURE OF JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI
Title
AN ORDINANCE repealing section 1512.1, Jackson County Code, 1984, relating to the Employees' Pension Plan and enacting, in lieu thereof, one new section relating to the same subject, with an effective date.
Intro
ORDINANCE NO. 6159, November 16, 2026
INTRODUCED BY Donna Peyton, County Legislator
Body
WHEREAS, on May 21, 2026 the County Executive sent a letter to the Jackson County Pension Plan Board of Trustees requesting that the Board consider an increase to the pension multiplier; and,
WHEREAS, a pension multiplier is a fixed percentage used in a defined benefit formula to determine how much of an employee’s salary they will earn as a retirement benefit for each year of service; and,
WHEREAS, the current multiplier is lower than surrounding municipalities and comparable public employees and an increase could be a valuable tool for recruitment and retention of County employees; and,
WHEREAS, the Jackson County Pension Plan Board of Trustees determined that it would be appropriate to increase the pension multiplier to the highest amount possible while still keeping a funding status of the Plan at least 83%; and,
WHEREAS, Cheiron, the Jackson County Pension Plan Board of Trustees’ retained actuary, conducted a pay study and issued a report dated October 12, 2026, which determined that the benefits increase enacted in this Ordinance will result in an increase in the normal cost and Actuarial Liability of the Jackson County, MO Revised Pension Plan because the larger pension multiplier results in larger pension benefits; and,
WHEREAS, the Jackson County Pension Plan Board of Trustees reviewed the study and determined that an increase from 1.6% to 1.85% would decrease the Pension Plan’s funded status to 83.6%, which the Board has determined is an appropriate funding status percentage; and,
WHEREAS, there would be no cost to the County for 2027 with future predicted increase to co...
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