Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala is calling for “independent oversight” of the county’s pension fund.
It’s the latest in a situation we’ve been following for years.
In 2024, the district attorney filed a lawsuit over what he called a “looming crisis.”
The DA called for that oversight as part of a three-page letter of response to last week’s report from the county’s retirement board.
He blamed political aspirations of board members as the root cause of the $1.4 billion unfunded pension liability.
“I strongly recommend that immediate steps be taken by Allegheny County Council and the State Legislature to appoint independent oversight of the Retirement Board while consideration is given to the creation of new revenue streams, a new pension system, and a new unconflicted Retirement Board,” Zappala’s letter reads.
The board has seven members. Three are elected county positions, including the county controller, treasurer and executive.
Channel 11 reached out to Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato. She sent us a statement saying:
“As a member of the Pension board, my team and I take the health and financial performance of the pension very seriously. Recently, the pension board released a preliminary report to shore up the pension fund and protect workers’ retirements. I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and implementing this plan in partnership with other elected leaders and experts in this field.
“The report highlights the issues created over the decades that this District Attorney has been in office. He has had ample time to suggest a holistic solution beyond the reform County Executive Fitzgerald got done in 2014. Apparently, it took the first woman County Executive for him to be motivated to speak up. Those of us who are actually working on this issue in a timely manner will continue to do what is right for our workers and retirees.”
Gary Herndon, a county facilities worker who’s just about ready to retire, told us, “I probably have another year left here. It’s really important to me who controls it.”
“We depend on it. We need it when we need it, and I hope it’s there. I don’t want somebody controlling it who really doesn’t know anything about it,” he said.
You can read Zappala’s full comments below:
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