The Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA) has agreed to help the city in its efforts to fund its pension system – but there are a few strings attached.
JEA would make a one-time, $120 million payment to the city’s pension fund. In return, JEA wants the city to slash the utility’s future contributions and let it create its own pension plan for employees. (Since JEA is a public utility, it’s employees belong to the city’s pension plan.)
More from First Coast News:
The [JEA] board voted unanimously to support the deal on Tuesday following little debate, but months of work studying to determine if it was a good move for the authority.
The JEA, in turn for providing $120 million, would see its annual contributions to the city slashed plus allow the JEA to break away and create its own pension plan for its employees.
Mayor Alvin Brown has touted the JEA option as a good move because the city could match the $120 million to make a lump sump payment to drive down the pension obligations that push $1.6 billion.
The Jacksonville City Council still needs to approve the agreement.
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