At GERS Summit, Campaigns Propose Plans to Save USVI Pension System

ST. CROIX — The two-day G.E.R.S. summit held at the Carambola Resort Wednesday and Thursday saw two of the most visible campaigns — the Mapp-Potter and Bryan-Roach teams — promoting their plans to save the system.

The pension system, with its more than $4 billion liability and a collapse date of February 2023, is in desperate need of an infusion of cash and a comprehensive plan to save it. And there is no better time than a gubernatorial year to capture the attention of those seeking the territory’s top office.

The economic repercussions of a collapsed G.E.R.S. would be dire. A January 2017 G.E.R.S. survey concluded that the territory would lose 50 percent or more of disposable income were the system to collapse, and many retirees would relocate to the U.S. mainland where they’d have access to affordable housing and health care, and where the cost of living is lower and they could qualify for Social Security benefits.

The Government of the Virgin Islands, which is the plan sponsor of G.E.R.S., has underfunded the pension system by $1.6 billion, according Austin Nibbs, G.E.R.S. administrator. In September 2016, G.E.R.S.’s total pension liability, which is its total obligation to beneficiaries, was $5.5 billion, and the total net pension liability was $4.6 billion.

Read more: https://viconsortium.com/health/at-gers-summit-mapp-potter-bryan-roach-campaigns-propose-plans-to-save-pension-system/