Newton Pension Liability Falls to $248 Million
Newton's Finance Committee heard that the city's net pension liability dropped to $248 million.
Finance Committee · Meeting of October 7, 2026
Newton's Finance Committee heard that the city's net pension liability dropped to $248 million. Auditors Jim Petrowski and Zach Fentros of CLA told the committee the retirement system's net pension liability fell from $275 million to $248 million as of Dec. 31, 2025, driven by a $73 million investment gain, while the discount rate dipped to 6.75 percent. City Comptroller Steve Curley said Newton has $63.6 million in ARPA funds, with $2.5 million unexpended but expected to be fully spent before the Dec. 31, 2026 federal deadline, tied partly to a Newton Housing Authority project at the Horace Mann complex.
New member Ryan McLaughlin, a 25-year financial-services veteran, said "public pension plan discount rates were pretty aggressive" compared with rising bond yields. The single audit covers $23.5 million in federal awards, with no findings reported so far. The committee set its next meeting for December 9 at 9 a.m.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 2,038 words
Source: the Finance Committee meeting of October 7, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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