Pulaski County Council Considers Funding Arrangements for Sheriff’s Deputies’ Pension Plan

Pulaski County Sheriff’s Deputies’ new pension plan may soon be fully funded, at least for a year. Last year, the county council approved a switch from a 20- to a 32-year retirement plan.

That was expected to increase the county’s cost by about $28,000 a year. But since then, there had been some confusion about whether the council had to come up with that all of that money or whether Sheriff Jeff Richwine would try to find half of that in his budget.

Last week, he told council members that he thought he had enough extra money in his pension fund to cover half and asked for permission to spend it. However, Auditor Laura Wheeler pointed out that the fund only has about $45,000. Since Richwine typically spends $30,000 a year on his share of the pension, his additional appropriation request of more than $14,000 would leave it almost completely depleted for next year.

The sheriff explained that the pension fund money comes from paper service revenues, which typically amount to between $20,000 to $30,000 a year. That wouldn’t be enough to keep up with his share of the pension cost in the future.

In the end, the county council agreed to advertise the additional appropriation request for future consideration, along with a request for another $30,000 related to vehicles. Richwine explained that it’s a procedural step, following the transfer of ownership of two trucks to the Pulaski County Highway Department.