County departments paid about $11 million into the reserve fund started more than a decade ago to anticipate Public Employees Retirement System costs.
In fiscal year 2018, which begins July 2017, the county would see a 22.5 percent increase in PERS costs annually without use of the reserve fund. Between the current fiscal year and 2024 the annual costs would increase from about $10.8 million to about $23 million without use of reserve funding.
Using the reserve fund over the ensuing years would keep cost increases around 7 to 10 percent a year, making them less drastic and easier to absorb into budgets.
(READ MORE: Bend Bulletin)
