Austin Firefighters Retirement Fund—continued good news
Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2025 7:27 am
Council Members,
I intended to send this to you yesterday, but the Message Board was down. So, here we go with a Saturday morning post
The Pension Review Board (PRB) has officially determined the Austin Firefighters Retirement Fund’s 2025 Funding Soundness Restoration Plan (FSRP) is in full compliance with state requirements. The PRB’s actuary confirmed the system is projected to reach 100% funded status by 2042, well within the state’s 30-year funding period requirement.
In addition, Fitch Ratings has upgraded the City of Austin’s bond rating from AA+ to AAA, citing the reforms enacted to the Firefighters Retirement Fund as a contributing factor. This is the highest possible credit rating a city can achieve. It means stronger long-term stability for our firefighters’ fund, and lower borrowing costs for Austin taxpayers.
This is great news and represents many months of hard work by city staff and our partners at AFRF and others. Our goal throughout this process has been to ensure the long-term financial sustainability for the city and our firefighters, and I’m proud to say we’ve achieved that.
These milestones follow the commitment of the City and our firefighters – and the support of our legislative delegation and state leaders, who championed HB 2802 during the Regular Session. I am especially grateful for our CFO Ed Van Eenoo and the finance team for their efforts – then and now as we move forward to operationalize these changes. And I thank Carrie Rogers for her help.
Kirk
On behalf of Mayor Watson
I intended to send this to you yesterday, but the Message Board was down. So, here we go with a Saturday morning post
The Pension Review Board (PRB) has officially determined the Austin Firefighters Retirement Fund’s 2025 Funding Soundness Restoration Plan (FSRP) is in full compliance with state requirements. The PRB’s actuary confirmed the system is projected to reach 100% funded status by 2042, well within the state’s 30-year funding period requirement.
In addition, Fitch Ratings has upgraded the City of Austin’s bond rating from AA+ to AAA, citing the reforms enacted to the Firefighters Retirement Fund as a contributing factor. This is the highest possible credit rating a city can achieve. It means stronger long-term stability for our firefighters’ fund, and lower borrowing costs for Austin taxpayers.
This is great news and represents many months of hard work by city staff and our partners at AFRF and others. Our goal throughout this process has been to ensure the long-term financial sustainability for the city and our firefighters, and I’m proud to say we’ve achieved that.
These milestones follow the commitment of the City and our firefighters – and the support of our legislative delegation and state leaders, who championed HB 2802 during the Regular Session. I am especially grateful for our CFO Ed Van Eenoo and the finance team for their efforts – then and now as we move forward to operationalize these changes. And I thank Carrie Rogers for her help.
Kirk
On behalf of Mayor Watson