Laredo City Council discusses pension plan

LAREDO, Texas (KGNS) – City of Laredo employees must work for decades to earn a pension. However, a 2019 resolution allows council members and the mayor to receive pensions in just one four-year term.

City Attorney Zona Nguyen said board members must be reclassified to meet Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) standards.

“They are elected officials, but for the purposes of TMRS they can participate if they are created as a department, which we did through the budget, and if the city certifies that they employ 1,000 people a year,” Nguyen said.

However, Board Member Dr. Tyler King is unhappy with the fact that he cannot opt out without affecting everyone in the plan.

King noted, “We worked with the mayor to try to get rid of pensions, and then they brought in lawyers from the Texas Municipal League to tell us that we couldn’t get rid of it unless we were willing to take away the pensions of all our employees. . Once you start, you can’t take it away from the people who were already in it.”

Laredo Mayor Dr. Victor Trevino was one of the few who tried to refuse.

Trevino added: “The pension applies to people who have worked for 20 or 30 years. Our situation is completely different; council members work or are elected for a short term. Five years and you are entitled to a pension. For me, this is something I don’t agree with.”

Nguyen explains that TMRS doesn’t want those who signed up for the plan to sign in and out.

“Once you are inside, you cannot be removed. It’s just a federal pension law; however, they can bar future council members and the mayor from serving if the city certifies that they work less than 1,000 hours per year,” Nguyen added.

However, it remains to be seen whether the majority of council members will support this.

Currently, all members and the mayor are participants in the pension plan.

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