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PITTSTON — The city has missed its fourth consecutive mandatory police pension contribution, according to an audit released this week by Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale.
The city came up nearly $400,000 short in 2017 and has been hit with over $160,000 in interest penalties.
“Pittston continues to pay a hefty price for missing its required pension payment deadlines,” said DePasquale in a press release. DePasquale went on to say that if Pittston does not come up with and follow through on a concrete plan of action to cover the $400,000 pension deficit, he will be forced to withhold future state pension aid to the city.
“I do recognize that the city is trying,” DePasquale said in the release.
Pittston’s 2019 budget does include a plan to address the police pension fund deficit, and Mayor Mike Lombardo is confident the gap will be closed in 2019.
“The City of Pittston has been working diligently for several years to address the funding issues of its police pension plan,” Lombardo said in a statement.
Most notably, the city issued a $2.1 million bond in October of this year. The bond was used to pay down a significant portion of the police pension’s unfunded liability in an effort to lower future annual obligations and avoid future interest penalties.
Lombardo also pointed out that any interest penalties paid go right to the pension fund and benefit only the city’s police, not a third party.
“The first read of our 2019 budget reflects clear action steps … to address the Auditor General’s concerns,” said Lombardo in his statement. “This progress is occurring with no increases in taxes.”
The audit report wasn’t all bad news for Pittston.
The firemen’s pension plan is funded at 99.5 percent of obligations and the officers and employees plan is funded at 89.5 percent.