Via The Oakland Press,
By Dustin Blitchok, The Oakland Press
May 3, 2015
The Municipal Employees’ Retirement System, the statewide nonprofit that’s been suggested as a solution to Pontiac’s retiree health care liability, has 800 Michigan municipalities as clients and more than 100,000 participants.
Former Emergency Manager Lou Schimmel and others have said Pontiac’s 150-percent-funded, $500-million General Employees Retirement System could be transferred to MERS, with a portion of the Pontiac pension fund’s surplus being split off to pay for retiree health care.
Chris DeRose, CEO of the $9.4 billion retirement system, said the transfer is viable if approved by the Internal Revenue Service.
“We have products that would make that possible, assuming it is legal — and legal means, ‘does it meet IRS regulation?’” DeRose said during a wide-ranging interview with The Oakland Press.