Louisiana’s police pension system is accusing Mayor Helena Moreno’s administration of failing to pay $3.5 million in required pension contributions, and has asked the state Treasury Department to strip the city of that amount.
The head of the Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System said on Wednesday that the city owes the system $800,000 in employee contributions withheld from New Orleans Police Department retention bonuses awarded in January, plus $2.7 million in employer contributions associated with the bonuses.
“Once employee retirement contributions are deducted from an officer’s compensation, those funds are no longer general municipal revenues and must be transmitted to the retirement system,” Ben Huxen said. “Failure to remit employee contributions that have already been withheld raises significant legal and fiduciary concerns.”…