Teachers’ Retirement Board

At a Glance

DARLENE PEREZ, Administrator

Leanne Appleton, Assistant Administrator

Established - 1917

Statutory authority - CGS Chapter 167a

Central office - 21 Grand Street,

Hartford, CT 06106

Average number of full-time employees - 28

Recurring operating expenses -

$ 2,051, 076

Appropriation expended for Funding Normal Cost and Past Service Liabilities and Health Services -

$ 413,911,693

Organizational structure - Administrative Division, Benefit Services Division, Accounting Division, Information Systems Division

Mission

The mission of the Teachers' Retirement Board is to obtain adequate funding to pay all benefits and to effectively administer the retirement system; to protect and administer the statutory rights and benefits of members of the State Teachers' Retirement System, and to provide pre/post retirement services.

Statutory Responsibility

The provisions of the Teachers' Retirement System are contained in Chapter 167a of the Connecticut General Statutes to provide retirement, disability, survivorship and health insurance benefits for Connecticut public school teachers and their beneficiaries. The benefits of the program are funded by employee contributions, state appropriations and investment income. The program is intended to provide financial security at retirement for career Connecticut public school teachers, to replace lost income as a result of disability and to provide benefits to survivors of teachers who die while actively teaching. Members of the system are informed of their rights, benefits and responsibilities to claim benefits by receiving annual statements of benefits, newsletters and topical publications. In addition, individual counseling programs are available, on a limited basis, to assist members in the retirement planning process.

Public Service

The agency is committed to providing each member with the necessary information to make intelligent and informed decisions regarding disability, retirement, survivor, and health benefits. Each non-retired member receives an Annual Statement of Benefits that provides a complete record of their credited service and earnings history. In addition, the agency publishes a newsletter, The TRiB, and a variety of topical publications and brochures to assist in dealing with retirement issues. The agency continues to improve and expand its website www.ct.gov/trb to provide better and timely access of information to members.

Improvements/Achievements 2005-06

The agency continues to adjust its recent organizational changes, reviewing existing procedures and establishing new or adjusting existing procedures to allow us to continue to meet our statutory requirements of issuing retirement benefits to all current and newly retired members and or beneficiaries in a timely manner. We continue to strive for accuracy in the payment of all benefits.

Reducing Waste

The agency continues to save thousands of dollars by utilizing its website as a resource for active and retired members. Bulletins, forms and important notifications are posted to the website for member access, saving office supplies and postage costs. We have also begun to realize the decrease in the number of retirement checks being printed from 20,000 to 5,000 monthly due to mandatory electronic funds deposit. This decrease saves the agency approximately $55,000 in postage costs annually.

Strategic Planning

The number of members retiring is growing each year and these members rely upon us to provide them with specific financial retirement information. The goal of the agency is to restore and maintain an adequate workforce to keep up with the growing demands.

The processes with the Agency are still paper driven therefore it is the goal of the Agency to make its website interactive. The agency hopes to receive a budget for this project within the next two to four years. This project will allow members to gain access to their account information and initiate changes to certain aspects of their own account, such as name, address, taxes, etc., through a secure web access.

Administration - Personnel

Management of the Teachers’ Retirement System is vested in the Teachers’ Retirement Board. The following persons were members of the Teachers’ Retirement Board on June 30, 2006:

Teacher Members Public Members Ex-Officio

Mrs. Clare H. Barnett Eugene Cimiano Betty Sternberg

Chairperson Hartford, CT Commissioner

Danbury Teacher State Department

Elaine T. Lowengard Of Education

Rosalyn B. Schoonmaker West Hartford, CT

Vice-Chairperson

Retired Teacher Deborah Freedman Patricia Wilson-Coker

Bridgeport Simsbury, CT Commissioner

State Department

Martin M. Lilienthal of Social Services

Marion S. Jewell Meriden, CT

Retired Teacher

Darien William T. Murray Dr. Thomas I. Knox, Jr. M.D

Danbury Teacher West Hartford, CT

Mary Nicholas

Vernon Teacher

Affirmative Action

It is the policy of the Teachers’ Retirement Board to assure non-discrimination and affirmative action in all phases of the employment process including recruitment, application, interviewing, selection and testing, appointing, assigning, orientation, training, evaluation, promotion and counseling without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex, age, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, learning disability, marital status, sexual orientation, present or past history of mental disorder, mental retardation, political beliefs or criminal record.

To carry out this policy, the Board has undertaken positive action to overcome the present effects of past discrimination and to achieve, in a meaningful way, the full and fair utilization of women and minorities in the work force. It has developed a program of affirmative action and equal employment opportunity as an immediate and necessary objective that it pledges to aggressively pursue in every phase of its personnel policies. The Board shall continue to provide its services in a fair and impartial manner.

2004-2005 2005-2006

AGENCY STAFF (FUNDED) 24 29

MEMBERSHIP

Active 50,836 52,579

Inactive 8,020 8,325

Retired 24,870 25,221

RETIREMENT DURING THE YEAR 1,944 1,682

Regular retirement 1,163 1,119

Disability retirement 33 28

Early Retirement 641 439

Proratable 53 48

Deferred retirement 54 48

Average age at retirement 59.13 59.69

Average length of service 31.25 31.62

Average salary base $71,239 $72,792

Average annual retirement allowance $43,168 $44,935

AVERAGE ANNUAL RETIREMENT ALLOWANCES

All retirements $36,207 $37,701

Regular retirement $42,889 $45,114

Disability retirement $25,628 $25,844

Early retirement $33,335 $35,037

Proratable retirement $14,143 $15,595

Deferred retirement $11,407 $11,689

RETIREMENT FUND BALANCE 7/1 $6,915,050,228 $6,753,001,734

RETIREMENT PAYMENTS DURING THE YEAR

Total Retirement Payments $964,597,731 $1,050,132,506

REFUNDS OF TEACHERS CONTRIBUTIONS $8,289,668 $10,823,529

Total Expenditures for benefits $972,887,399 $1,060,956,035

RECEIPTS OF THE RETIREMENT FUND 2004-2005 2005-2006

Teacher contributions, including

installment payments $ 222,443,846 $234,089,789

Teachers’ personal payments $ 36,964,576 $ 59,440,494

Investment Income (Treasurer’s Estimate) $407,435,815 $393,043,955

State appropriation for Funding normal

cost and past service liabilities $185,348,143 $396,248,844

Interest late assessments (town deposits) $20,594 $0

Interest late assessments (ERIP Plans) $0 $14,250

Early Retirement Payments $2,456,776 $2,802,639

STIF Income $86,441 $434,434

Transfer to Health Fund ($43,830,845) ($39,144,621)

Total revenue $810,838,905 $1,047,243,522

Retirement Fund Balance 6/30 $6,753,001,734 $6,738,975,482

2004-2005 2005-2006

HEALTH INSURANCE FUND

BALANCE 7/1 $4,019,010 $12,029,036

Receipts from

Teacher Contributions $54,172,470 $53,418,409

Active and Retired

Investment Income $118,703 $496,286

General Fund Income $12,857,769 $17,662,849

Payments to retirees/school districts ($59,138,916) ($63,061,127)