LONGVIEW, Texas — The Longview City Council is facing a decision about possibly borrowing money to shore up the city’s firefighters’ pension fund.
Mayor Andy Mack said that kind of decision should be put before voters, with City Attorney Jim Finley saying an election authoring an increase in taxes and revenue generated could be required under the state’s tax laws. No decision was made during Thursday council meeting, with Mack saying the councilmembers would come back to the issue.
In October 2021, the council learned that despite following all the steps recommended by an actuarial firm the pension board previously hired to help improve the pension fund’s financial standing, the plan still faced large and growing unfunded obligations. An actuarial firm provides guidance about pensions and investments, among other things, looking at projections for how contributions to pension plans and investments will affect a pension plan’s funding.
Read more from our CBS19 paper partner, Longview News-Journal.
