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The City of Williamsport's minimum municipal pension obligations (MMO) for next year amounted to $4.3 million, which is higher than recent years as the employee payroll is increasing and inflation pressures the city with a payroll consisting primarily of unionized workers.
On Thursday night, City Council approved the MMO for 2027 for the Bureau of Police, $2.1 million; Bureau of Fire, $1.6 million and Officers and Employees (O&E) unionized workers at $608,000. The MMO is done every year at this time and is to be completed by Sept. 30, though revisions may be made up until the time of the budget being finalized.
"We use the payroll numbers to calculate through the end of the year and then the actuary uses those figures to figure out how much the city is required to pay into the pension fund. It includes the employee's contributions," said Jamie Livermore, city finance director.
Because of the increases, Council President Eric Beiter weighed in.
"Curious, how does this stand in
relation to previous years?" he asked Livermore.
"It is higher," Livermore responded, adding, as city payroll increases so does the MMO.
In fact, the (increase in MMO) can be from hiring more employees or employees receiving level raises and inflationary figures, she noted.
In comparison, this year's MMO was $4,397,372 with the Bureau of Police pension fund: $2,028,978; Bureau of Fire pension fund: $1,773,161 and Officers' & Employees' Pension fund: $595,233. The 2025 MMO was $4.3 million, or $4,307,972.
To balance the impact on city budgets, the city receives state aid to assist in covering the cost of its pension programs.
In written reports available on the city website it lists the city having received $1.2 million in state aid in 2024 and $1.5 million in state aid in 2023.