Wasserman Proposes Closing Milwaukee County's $200,000 OBRA Plan as 48% Missed 2019 Payouts
Updated
Updated · Urban Milwaukee · Aug 20
Wasserman Proposes Closing Milwaukee County's $200,000 OBRA Plan as 48% Missed 2019 Payouts
3 articles · Updated · Urban Milwaukee · Aug 20
Summary
Milwaukee County Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman will bring a September resolution to soft-close the OBRA pension plan for seasonal workers and shift the benefit to Social Security over several years.
422 former workers were eligible for OBRA payouts in 2019, but only 52% received them; many recipients were teenagers when employed, making them hard for the pension office to locate.
The county has spent roughly $180,000 to $200,000 a year administering a plan whose average payout was about $501 over the past five years, with unclaimed benefits transferred to the state treasurer.
The change would require coordination with the state, a referendum of current plan members and likely outside consultants, extending Milwaukee County's broader effort to unwind troubled legacy pension obligations.