TCDRS official briefs Hutchinson County on retirement plan choices, funding and COLA options

Richard Ashcraft, an account manager with the Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS), presented to the Hutchinson County commissioners on the county’s retirement plan and funding options. Ashcraft described the system as a savings-based retirement plan serving counties and districts, and he identified the county’s existing parameters: employees contribute 7% (the statutory maximum), and the county’s elected employer rate has been above the requirement for years as a prefunding strategy.

Ashcraft provided the key actuarial and plan figures for 2027: the required contribution rate was presented as 7.77% of payroll while Hutchinson County’s elected rate is 11.55% (an elected rate that the county has used for several years to prefund benefits). He told the commissioners the plan’s current funding ratio is near 98.1% and outlined vesting and eligibility rules, including the “75 rule” (age plus years of service) and a 30-year service eligibility option.

On benefit changes, Ashcraft explained options for cost-of-living adjustments (flat-rate COLAs versus CPI-based adjustments) and the mechanics of changing employer-match levels either future-forward or retroactively. He said the county could choose a higher employer match (for example, moving toward a 200% match) and that staff could run scenarios for both future-forward and past-and-future (retroactive) implementations. "If you decide to make it retroactive... their entire account balance would be matched at 200%," Ashcraft said in the presentation.

Commissioners asked for modeling on the fiscal impact of proposed changes; Ashcraft confirmed there is time to make plan-change elections before the December deadline for plan-year implementation. The commissioners did not enact any immediate plan changes at the meeting but requested written scenarios showing the budget impact of different match and COLA options.

Speakers quoted: Richard Ashcraft (TCDRS) and county budget staff (S3) provided figures and answered commissioners' procedural questions. The county asked staff to provide financial comparisons before any vote on plan changes.