Taking action
Kentucky School Advocate
October 2017
By Madelynn Coldiron
Staff writer
It goes without saying that school board members who are concerned about the pension recommendations should contact their local legislators (
www.lrc.ky.gov). But more specifically, board members can talk with their superintendent and finance officer to provide more targeted fiscal information to use in making their case, said Eric Kennedy, KSBA’s Governmental Relations director.
For example, they can calculate the cost of Social Security contributions for all new teacher hires this year to get the bottom line of that recommendation. Add to that the cost of the expected ballooning CERS contributions for next year, and the cost of employer contributions to the recommended 401(k)s for those CERS employees, and the possible cost of school boards perhaps having to pay the employer match for the new teachers’ 401(k)s.
Finally, calculate the 4 percent maximum amount of tax revenue the district could take in without voter recall this year, whether or not it was enacted.
“Get that number and the point is in many or most cases, even the 4 percent rate this year would not have been enough for those additional costs if all of those had been in place this year. And tell that to your legislators as soon as possible,” Kennedy said.
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