The annual actuarial valuation (AAV) is an important tool to help you budget for your municipality's retirement benefits, with information specific to your municipality's retirement plan. While MERS pools assets for investment purposes, individual accounts are maintained for each municipality. Each entity is responsible for the employer contributions needed to provide benefits for its employees and former employees. To see a consolidated report of all MERS plans, please click here.
The annual actuarial valuation is a report provided to you as a snapshot of your MERS Defined Benefit Plan as of December 31 each year. The report provides insight to your plan's liabilities, funding levels, contributions for both the employer and employee, and important GASB Information. The information in the report will provide you contribution rates for your following fiscal year.
You can expect your report to arrive by June 30 for the previous calendar year. For instance, you can expect the 2017 report to arrive by June 30, 2018. This report will contain contribution rate information for the 2019 fiscal year.
This guide outlines each section of your report, as well as answers to some frequently asked questions. For more information, please contact your MERS Regional Manager. Click the section title for more information about that part of the report.
This video walks through the components of the 2017 Annual Actuarial Valuation (AAV) to help you better understand your report.
When will my new rates go into effect?What percent funded is our division/municipality?We made a change that is not being shown on this report.What is Normal Cost?What is Unfunded Accrued Liability (UAL)?Table 2 shows a provision line for "Early Retirement (Reduced)." What is this?Who do I contact if I have additional questions or want to learn more?Can changes be made to the benefit provisions shown here? If so, how?Can we pay more than what the minimum required contribution states on our AAV?The employee count on the AAV is incorrect. How do I make corrections?Where can I find information on investment rate of return history?What impact does changing the employee contribution percentage have on the employer rate?We made voluntary contributions in 2016 that we'd like added to a surplus division to help accelerate the time in which our plan is funded. Is that possible?Can we apply voluntary contributions directly to UAL without affecting the calculation of future required minimum contributions?