Delayed retirement payments expected by end of September, Houston pension system chair said

Approximately 1,052 city employees took Mayor John Whitmire’s early retirement incentive as part of the administration’s efforts to cut down on what was a $330 million budget shortfall earlier this year, according to previous Community Impact reporting.

However, reports came out that hundreds of these retired employees have still not received their payments. Now, the Houston Municipal Employees Pension System, which is responsible for retirement benefits for city of Houston employees and operates independently from the city, said these payments should be complete by the end of September.

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HMEPS Chair Sherry Mose told City Council historically the system has an average of 39 retirements a month, but now the department has to process more than a thousand at one time.

“HMEPS trained and experienced benefit counselors have reviewed 1,052 of these requests, sent application packets out, reviewed submitted application documents, met with hundreds of participants, returned thousands of phone calls, prepared payroll sheets. ... We’re very process-oriented,” Mose said.

Mose said there are around 270-280 retirees who have not received their payments yet but are expected to receive them by the end of September. She said the reason for this is because they either did not submit their paperwork on time, or some paperwork was completed incorrectly, while there are over 40 retirees that HMEPS staff have been unable to get ahold of.

“With that paperwork, it requires documentation, marriage licenses, birth certificates—a lot of people didn’t submit that,” Mose said. “So when that happened, they were ending up back at the end of the line.”

On Aug. 20, Whitmire said delayed payments were expected to complete on the week of Aug. 25.

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Whitmire said him nor the city have control over the pension fund as HMEPS runs independently from city government.

“I don’t have time for politics or imaginary city,” Whitmire said. “We’re fixing people’s issues.”

Council member Edward Pollard questioned how this affected HMEPS staff and whether they were properly trained and prepared to process such a large number of applications.

“I think this council body with the administration plus HMEPS have to do a better job of coordinating and collaborating with one another to ensure that you all have the resources necessary,” Pollard said.

Mose said the pension system had to hire 20% more staff to prepare, as well as receive additional training for existing staff. However, because this is the first time the city has done this kind of incentive, HMEPS received nearly 13,000 calls regarding the program.

“I don’t think that it is based on a lack of effort that the situation has turned out to be what it is,” Pollard said. “But we do need to look at the seriousness of what has taken place. You didn’t get 13,000 calls for no reason. You got 13,000 calls because there were so many people who were expecting a certain amount of pay.”

If you are a Houston government retiree and haven't received your retirement payment yet and would like to talk to Community Impact about your experience, reach out to [email protected]