SDOC dealing with State Retirement Increases

A mandate from the State of South Carolina this year increased contributions to the retirement fund. This is putting pressure on school districts and any state agencies that participate in the retirement system, explains School District of Oconee County (SDOC) Finance Director Gloria Moore. “In the budget process this year, the state increased the employer’s portion of the retirement contribution by 2% and we were told during the budget process that this year we were only going to have to absorb 1% of that and that we would get a 1% credit toward our quarterly report. We did that and our credit was $675,000, so that just confirms that our 2% is actually $1.3 million and we know that the state is going to continue to increase the employer’s share over the next five years. So, by the time we get to the 2022-23 fiscal year our matching part will be 24% and so we know that in this coming up year we’ll have a bit of a challenge because that 1% that we are absorbing this year will compound as we go forward.” Moore said that the increase to retirement system contributions is just something that the SDOC will have to budget for each year moving forward.