DOT pension, healthcare costs grow nearly $30 million in three years as state projects are put on hold

From Yankee Institute.

Pension and healthcare costs for employees with the Department of Transportation grew nearly $30 million over three years, increasing operating costs for Connecticut’s beleaguered Special Transportation Fund.

According to figures from the State Comptroller’s Office, between 2014 and 2017 state pension contributions increased $20.9 million, while healthcare costs increased $8.8 million.

Some costs — like worker’s compensation and unemployment compensation — actually decreased during that same time period.

Total fringe benefit costs totaled $198 million in 2017, and the 2018 figures may be higher, according to information presented to the Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth.

A historical summary of the Special Transportation Fund’s growth presented by Joseph Sculley of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut, showed fringe benefits and accruals totaling $201 million for 2018.

For perspective, Connecticut appropriated $173.3 million for rail service and $156.3 million for bus service in 2018.

Fringe benefit costs for employees amount to 89 percent of payroll, up from 85 percent in 2014. Of that figure, 56 percent of payroll goes exclusively toward pension costs due to the massive liabilities the state has incurred in its State Employee Retirement System.

Read more at the Yankee Institute for Public Policy website.