District flags OPEB exposure; will consider fund-balance amendment to protect retirees

Chad briefed the board on the district's handling of other post-employment benefits (OPEB), explaining the district previously borrowed at low interest and invested those proceeds to pay retiree benefits. "We've had about $2,100,000 a year we've been paying towards paying that whole OPEB loan now," he said, noting the strategy worked historically but that actuarial assumptions and inflation have widened the funding gap.

He warned the district could be short "3 or 4 to $5,000,000" by the time the loan is paid off and proposed staff will likely return with a budget amendment asking the board to devote a portion of excess fund balance to the issue as a stopgap to 2032 rather than cutting promised retiree benefits. Board members expressed support for addressing the liability proactively and asked for continued annual actuarial refreshes.