Duties of the Retirement Office

The Shelby County Government offers its employees fully funded and defined benefit plans.  It is the responsibility of the Retirement Office to oversee the administration of these plans, while the fiduciary responsibility is that of the Shelby County Board of Trustees.  In addition to assisting retirees, the Retirement Office also deals with employees preparing to retire, refunds and rollovers of terminating employees, and those employees who become permanently disabled.

The Retirement Office has the responsibility of processing the payment of all monthly pension benefits.  The total pension payroll for current pensioners as of June 30,2019, is in excess of $8 million dollars per month.  The Retirement Office also insures that pre and post 65 retirees enrolled in Shelby County Government’s benefit program meet all eligibility requirements for health, life and voluntary insurance benefits. 

The accounting and investment functions for the Retirement System are overseen by the Pension Administration Manager and Investment Manager for the System. As of June 30, 2019, the System’s Plan Fiduciary Net Position changed from  $1,191,573,647 to $1,224,240,111.

Long-Term Disability Protection

As of January 2002, the disability portion of retirement is managed by an independent long-term disability (LTD) insurance carrier. The Retirement Office still disburses disability checks to those employees who became disabled prior to January 2002 and assists those applying for disability with the contracted LTD insurance company.
 

Retirement System Audits & Valuations

The Shelby County Retirement System is audited each fiscal year.  The financial statements for the county’s retirement system must fairly present the plan net assets and any changes those net assets.  The internal control over financial report is also tested for compliance with provisions of applicable laws, regulations, contracts, and pension plan documents.

In conjunction with the audit, an actuarial valuation of Shelby County Government’s Retirement System is also conducted annual on the plan.  Participants in all plans are contributory.  Shelby County Government makes required contributions to the pension fund each year based on the yearly actuarial valuation requirements.