Time to Scale Back the Fairfax County Retirement System
The Educational Employees’ Supplementary Retirement System of Fairfax County (ERFC) was established July 1, 1973, to provide an independent retirement plan for Fairfax County Public Schools’ personnel as a supplement to the primary benefits they earn and receive separately from the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) and Social Security.
Currently, at age 55 after 30 years of working for FCPS, a retiring employee’s yearly pension amount paid by the VRS comes to about 50% of that person’s average pay based on his/her 5 highest-paid years. Normally, Social Security benefits would equate to around 25% of a person’s income earned during those 30 years of County employment at “full retirement” age, now 67 for new FCPS hires. The ERFC supplement was designed to make up for losing that 25% by retiring prior to age 67. In essence, retiring FCPS employees receive 75% of their pay at age 55. However, the County now continues that ERFC payment even AFTER a retired FCPS employee reaches age 67. From that point on, that retiree receives 100% of his/her “high 5” years pay in perpetuity.
Supervisor Pat Herrity (Springfield District) has outlined below how this and other very generous (at taxpayer expense) retirement plums available to Fairfax County employees are bankrupting the County. We urge you to read Supervisor Herrity’s report and to call your own supervisor if you agree the system should be scaled back to prevent tax hikes for county homeowners and businesses in the County’s effort to avert a financial catastrophe. Read Supervisor Herrity’s report here, and you will find his discussion of the pension situation on page 2 under the heading “Progress on Pension Reform”.
“Please call your supervisor to demand he/she scale back this lavish benefit.” and follow with this link:
https://www.fairfaxcounty.
FCPS Photo Attribution: Russell Kaufmann
