Township finance director presents 2027 pension obligations; police MMO to rise

The township’s finance staff presented the 2027 Minimum Municipal Obligation (MMO) calculations on Sept. 14 and said the combined MMO for the police and nonuniform pension plans will total roughly $4.1 million. Laura Hucklebridge said the nonuniform plan’s MMO is about $375,000 (a decrease of roughly $23,000 due to recent retirements and rollovers), while the police plan’s MMO rose by about $405,000 to approximately $3.7 million because updated mortality tables increased liabilities.

Hucklebridge noted the nonuniform plan was recently funded at roughly 100% and the police plan’s funded ratio was about 83% at the last valuation and may drop toward 79% next year as the mortality changes take effect. She said state aid typically reduces the township’s net payment and that historical state aid has been roughly 25% of the MMO, leaving an estimated township obligation near $3.0 million for 2027, subject to final calculations and state aid certification.