Teachers’ Retirement Board

 

 

 

At a Glance

 

DARLENE PEREZ, Administrator

Leanne Appleton, Assistant Administrator

Established - 1917

Statutory authority - Chapter 167a CGS

Central office – 765 Asylum Avenue,

Hartford, CT  06105

Average number of full-time employees – 30

Recurring operating expenditures - $2,341,303

State Appropriation - $539,329,930

Organizational structure –

Administrative Division

Benefit Services Division

Accounting Division

Information Systems Division

 

 

Mission

The mission of the Teachers' Retirement Board is to administer the State Teachers’ Retirement System.

 

 

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, 2008:

 

TEACHER MEMBERS

Clare H. Barnett Chairperson

Danbury Teacher

 

Rosalyn B. Schoonmaker

Vice-Chairperson

Retired Teacher

Bridgeport

 

Marion S. Jewell

Retired Teacher

Darien

 

William T. Murray

Danbury Teacher

 

Mary Nicholas

Vernon Teacher

 

PUBLIC MEMBERS

Eugene Cimiano

Hartford, CT

 

Jonathan Johnson

Farmington, CT

 

Eric R. Judge

Windsor, CT

 

Dr. Thomas I. Knox, Jr. M.D

West Hartford, CT

 

Elaine T. Lowengard

West Hartford, CT

 

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

Honorable

Mark K. McQuillan

Commissioner

State Department

of Education

 

Honorable

Michael P. Starkowski

Commissioner

State Department

of Social Services

 

 

 

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.         

 

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 2007-08

     The Teachers’ Retirement Board has recently moved to 765 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105.  We continue to offer trainings of our system to Local Boards of Education and state agency staff.  The agency has completed a Strategic Planning Initiative using information provided by CEM benchmarking and agency staff input.

 

Reducing Waste

     The agency continues to save thousands of dollars by utilizing its web site as a resource for active and retired members.  Bulletins, forms and important notifications are posted to the web site for member access, saving office supplies and postage costs.  The average savings is approximately $55,000 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.  With the development of the Strategic Plan for 2008 to 2013 and participation in the CEM Benchmarking survey in 2007, we have determined specific areas the agency needs to improve.  We were able to update our existing phone system with the recent move, develop an RFI to determine the cost associated with an interactive system which would 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.

 

Teachers’ Retirement Board

Administrative Report

 

 

2006-2007

2007-2008

AGENCY STAFF

29

30

MEMBERSHIP

 

 

Active

53,546

52,093

Inactive

9,444

9,328

Retired

28,042

28,609

 

 

 

RETIREMENTS

 

 

Normal Retirement

1,169

1,161

Disability Allowance

34

35

Early Retirement

409

367

Pro-rate Retirement

61

69

Deferred Retirement

61

77

Total Retirements (Less Disability Allowances)

1,704

1,674

Average age at retirement

60.17

60.56

Average length of service

31.16

30.73

Average salary base

$74,055

$77,080

Average annual retirement allowance

$44,935

$41,482

 

 

 

AVERAGE ANNUAL RETIREMENT ALLOWANCES

 

 

All Retirements

$39,721

$45,687

Normal Retirement

$47,384

$51,503

Disability Allowance

$26,103

$27,555

Early Retirement

$36,774

$41,084

Pro-rate Retirement

$16,450

$16,462

Deferred Retirement

$12,263

$14,288

 

 

RETIREMENT FUND

2006-2007

2007-2008

FUND BALANCE as of 7/1 *

$6,738,975,482

$7,478,798,560

RECEIPTS

 

 

Members’ Mandatory Contributions

$   242,334,763

$   251,759,977

Members’ Personal Payments

$     34,152,964

$      21,840,578

Investment Income

$1,254,299,799

$   705,117,270

State Contributions **

$   412,101,958

$2,518,560,263

Early Retirement Incentive Payments

$       2,659,720

$       1,667,810

Transfer to Health Fund

$    (40,070,052)

$   (41,296,730)

TOTAL RECEIPTS

$1,905,479,152

$3,457,649,168

 

 

 

EXPENDITURES

 

 

Retirement Payments

$1,159,443,411

$1,266,950,462

Refunds

$       6,212,663

$     16,314,549

TOTAL EXPENDITURES

$1,165,656,074

$1,283,265,011

 

 

 

FUND BALANCE as of 6/30 *

$7,478,798,560

$9,653,182,717

*Investments at Cost

**Two billion received from POB

HEALTH FUND

2006-2007

2007-2008

FUND BALANCE as of 7/1

$   20,545,453

$   42,034,349

RECEIPTS

 

 

Teacher Contribution Active and Retired

$   61,423,462

$   60,272,401

Investment Income

$     1,567,189

$     1,484,545

General Fund Income

$   20,749,537

$   20,769,667

Federal Drug Subsidy

$                  0

$     4,089,580

TOTAL RECEIPTS

$   83,740,188

$   86,616,193

 

 

 

EXPENDITURES

 

 

Payments to school districts and benefit administrators

$  (62,251,292)

$  (71,111,961)

 

 

 

FUND BALANCE as of 6/30

$   42,034,349

$   57,538,581