Pension Transparency

The City of Stafford is a member of the Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) a statewide, multiple employer agent plan for municipal employees in the State of Texas. TMRS is an agency created by the State of Texas and administered in accordance with the Texas Government Code. TMRS' defined benefit pension plan is a tax-qualified plan under Section 401 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code. Each of the participating municipalities’ assets and related pension liabilities are accounted for separately, and each municipality has an annual individual actuarial valuation performed. Any unfunded liability of an individual municipality is solely the obligation of that municipality.

Benefits Provided

TMRS provides retirements, disability, and death benefits. The City of Stafford has chosen from a menu of plan options as authorized by the TMRS statute. The City’s plan provides the following benefit level:

  • Employee Contributions – 7% of pay
  • Matching Ratio (City to Employee) – 2 to 1
  • Vesting of Benefits - 5 years
  • Service retirement eligibility - 20 years at any age; 5 years at the age of 60 and above
  • Updated Service Credit - 100% repeating transfers
  • Annuity Increases (to retirees) - 70% of CPI repeating
  • Supplemental Death Benefits – Yes

Upon retirement, the employee account balance including interest is combined with the employer match to price a lifetime annuity based on the employee’s age at retirement.

Employees Covered by Benefit Terms

At the December 31, 2021 valuation and measurement date, the following employees were covered by the benefit terms:

  • Active Members – 175
  • Retirees and Beneficiaries – 90
  • Inactive members – 103
  • Total – 368

Pension Summary

TMRS provides each of its member cities with two slightly different actuarial valuations which are both reflected below as of December 31, 2021. The first is the smoothed valuation used to calculate the City of Stafford’s actuarially determined contribution (ADC) to the plan. The second valuation is provided for Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Pronouncement 68 financial reporting purposes and reflects the City of Stafford’s fiduciary net position based on the market value of its assets.

Contributions

City of Stafford employees are required to contribute 7% of the annual gross earnings based on the City’s plan provisions. The City’s contribution rates for calendar years 2019 thru 2023 are as follows:

2019 to 2023 Pension Contribution (XLSX)

Information on investment strategies and results are available in the investment section of TMRS’s 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) on pages 49 to 62. (PDF).

Information on the City’s commitment to fund its pension liabilities and the funded status of those liabilities is provided in the City of Stafford's 2022 Annual Financial Report (PDF).