The Hopkinsville City Council passed a resolution this week stating the city’s support of separating the County Employees Retirement System from the state system.
Mayor Carter Hendricks said Hopkinsville is joining other communities that have passed similar resolutions across the Commonwealth. He said the city’s primary concern is having autonomy and control of the retirement system for city employees.
“We’re concerned that the contributions that our employees have made and that the cities have made to the KRS through the CERS--we’ve made our obligations and we’ve made our payments and yet we’re not funded to the degree that we think we should be funded,” Hendricks said.
Hendricks said the state General Assembly would have to pass a law with the governor’s support to separate CERS from the Kentucky Retirement System. He said the separation is a possibility but doesn’t think it is a likelihood at this point.
In a press conference last month announcing the proposed pension bill, Governor Matt Bevin said county governments would not be able to afford the separation. Bevin said city employees under CERS would not be covered by everything in the pension bill and counties would not be able to “meet the obligations they would be required to make.”
