Nevada’s public pension fund covering about 103,000 active state and local government employees saw its financial health improve in 2015 over the previous year, and now stands at 73.2 percent fully funded.
The funded rate for the combined plans for regular workers, police and firefighters was 71.5 percent in fiscal year 2014, so there was a 1.7 percentage point improvement this past fiscal year, according to the report by Segal Consulting, the system’s independent actuary.
A 70 percent funding ratio is considered the threshold for fiscally sound public pension plans by the investment and research firm Morningstar Inc. The goal of the plan, as with other public pension plans, is to get to 100 percent fully funded over time.
An unfunded liability means that the benefits owed to current and future retirees exceed the amount of money the plan has currently on hand to meet the obligations.
The report on the status of the $34 billion Public Employees’ Retirement System pension fund was reviewed and accepted Thursday by its seven-member board.