Skip to main content

TVA Additional Contribution to TVARS

On August 23, 2017, the TVA Board approved TVA’s $300 million contribution to the TVA Retirement System for fiscal year 2018.  The TVA Board also approved an additional one-time $500 million contribution to be made this fiscal year (fiscal year 2017).

This additional $500 million, plus annual credited interest, can be used by TVA in lieu of contributions at any future time at TVA's discretion. (See Section 9B5 on page 64 of TVARS' rules.) It does not increase TVA's long-term funding commitment to TVARS. 

The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) has already pointed out in its March 2017 report that TVA's long-term funding commitment is not enough to ensure the plan’s full funding.  The GAO specifically stated that TVA should “propose, and work with the TVARS board to adopt, funding rules designed to ensure the plan’s full funding.”  (See the GAO’s recommendations for executive action on page 34 of their March 2017 report.)  Why will TVA not work with us on the TVARS Board to adopt funding rules designed to ensure the plan’s full funding?

Comments

  1. So they are putting in $800m in one year and you still aren't happy? You are a special kind of stupid.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Whatever you say Anonymous. The GAO team and I must just be really stupid.

      Delete
    2. $300m a year with a one-time payment of $500m apparently impresses Anonymous#1. But it's too little, too late; a drop in the bucket towards properly funding the retirement system, as other companies must do.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Task Assigned to the TVARS Board

The TVARS board is required to recommend a contribution from TVA to be made in fiscal year 2014 prior to the end of the current fiscal year.  (See Section 9B on pages 51-53 of the rules here .)  Since TVA sets its budget months before the end of the fiscal year, it is imperative that this recommended amount be: decided upon by the TVARS board as quickly as possible; sufficient to adequately fund TVARS; and consistent with the amounts charged to ratepayers for pension expense. All seven TVARS board members have an obligation to come together to accomplish this.  (See TVARS board members here .)  I sincerely hope we will be able to accomplish this without further rule changes suspending TVA contributions, or further claims that legitimate accrued benefits are not really vested and must be reduced.  I hope we will be able to put an end to our failure to insure that amounts paid by TVA ratepayers for pension expense are used for their intended purpose.  As a TVARS board member, I

Introduction

This is my personal blog to facilitate communication among TVA employees, retirees and beneficiaries who are members of TVARS and who wish to preserve their retirement benefits. Please join my site and post your comments.  I have been an elected member of the TVA Retirement System (TVARS, or the system) board of directors since 2003. I am not speaking officially for the TVARS board of directors or TVA management. TVARS is an entity legally independent of TVA. Three of the board members are TVA employees (including myself), three are appointed by TVA management (currently all TVA executive managers), and the seventh is generally a retired TVA employee (appointed by the other six). As TVA employees, we all have a duty of loyalty to carry out directives issued by TVA management in our regular TVA jobs. However, each board member has a fiduciary duty to all the members of the system when performing TVARS duties. This fiduciary duty legally supercedes our duty of loyalty to carry out direct

Why do TVARS board meetings remain closed?

Within the next couple of months, the TVARS board must vote on a contribution amount to recommend that TVA make in fiscal year 2014. In conjunction with the contribution amount, it is possible the vote will include amendments to the rules. In conjunction with the contribution amount in 2009, the rules were amended to: suspend contribution requirements and related actuarial valuations for four years (Section 9B9); suspend the requirement that part of the contribution go to the “excess COLA account,” which was designed to accumulate and grow funds to be used for payment of future COLAs (Sections 9B9, 10D1 and 10D2); and reduce legitimate accrued pension benefits (Sections 6I, 7L and 18C3). The vote in 2009 was not open to observation, and unless the TVARS board takes action, neither will the vote this year. Not one of the six other TVARS board members would second the motion I made in December to open TVARS meetings to observation. All that is required to open future boa