Quabbin School Committee Establishes OPEB Trust Fund, Braces for Budget Fight

BARRE -- February 8, 2018, Quabbin Regional School District formally established an OPEB trust fund after years of auditor pressure and a looming $17 million retiree health liability. The School Committee voted unanimously, 11-0, at its February 8 meeting to accept MGL Chapter 32B Section 20 and adopt a Public Agencies Post-Retirement Health Care Plan and Trust administered by PARS, with Vanguard as investment manager and U.S. Bank as custodian. An initial $10,000 deposit, already budgeted for FY18, cannot be made for 90 days by law. Superintendent Maureen Marshall told members the unfunded liability, roughly half the district's annual operating budget, is driving the district's bond discount rate toward 2.7 percent under GASB 75, potentially inflating the paper liability by 12 to 15 percent if left unaddressed. The committee also heard a preliminary FY19 budget of $35,008,303, a 4.4 percent increase, that would push Barre's town assessment up nearly 14 percent before proposed cuts.