Is Vermont Municipal Employees fully funded?

Vermont Municipal Employees has a source-reconciled actuarial funded ratio of 74.0% as of FY2024, earning a health grade of F. Funded ratios are reported on each plan's actuarial basis, which can smooth investment gains and losses over time. A single percentage is therefore a comparison point rather than a complete forecast.

What happens if Vermont Municipal Employees runs out of money?

The PPD records a plan's reported financial measures; it does not provide a guarantee analysis. Check the plan's official disclosures for jurisdiction-specific benefit and funding information.

What does a funded ratio of 74.0% mean?

A funded ratio of 74.0% means that Vermont Municipal Employees reported actuarial assets equal to 74.0% of its accrued liabilities at that valuation date. The source-reported actuarial unfunded liability stands at $356M. This represents a moderate funding gap that requires ongoing monitoring.

How does Vermont Municipal Employees compare to other public pensions?

Vermont Municipal Employees is a Municipal plan in Vermont serving 13,919 members. Nationally, the average funded ratio for public pension plans tracked by the Public Plans Database is approximately 75.5%. Vermont Municipal Employees's source-reconciled actuarial funded ratio of 74.0% places it near the national average.

How many members does Vermont Municipal Employees have?

Vermont Municipal Employees covers 13,919 total members, including 8,393 active employees and 4,431 retirees currently receiving benefits. The ratio of active members to retirees is a key indicator of plan sustainability, when the number of retirees grows relative to active contributors, funding pressure increases.

FY2024 source-reconciled actuarial data · Public Plans Database

Vermont Municipal Employees

Vermont Municipal Employees tracked in full: funded ratio, unfunded liability, membership, and investment returns across 23 years, sourced from the Public Plans Database (Boston College CRR) and verified against actuarial valuations.

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By PlainPension · July 2026 · Vermont · Municipal Plan · Data through FY2024

Actuarial funded ratio: 74.0%
Health grade: FLowest reported funded-ratio band in this dataset
Actuarial assets: $1.02B
Members: 13,919

According to the Public Plans Database, compiled by the Boston College Center for Retirement Research, Vermont Municipal Employees is one of 197 public pension plans tracked nationwide. The plan card reports source-reconciled actuarial figures through FY2024; the multi-year table includes only years whose reported ratio ties to its actuarial dollars. This site’s database copy was last loaded in July 2026. See our methodology for the full source and update cadence.

Sliding funded-ratio path

Vermont Municipal Employees lost 38.1 points from FY2001 (112.1%) to FY2024 (74.0%) on the reconciled series.

Vermont Municipal Employees on a sliding funded path

According to the Public Plans Database, Vermont Municipal Employees lost 38.1 points on the reconciled series from FY2001 to FY2024, and now reports 74.0% (grade F).

74.0%
Actuarial funded ratio: F
Health grade: $356M
Actuarial unfunded liability: -38.1pp
FY2001→FY2024

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Actuarial Unfunded Liability

$356M

Below-median unfunded liability · source-reported UAAL

Total Members

13,919

active + retired + vested

Composite Health Score

35/100

Vermont Municipal Employees

Transparent derived index from public pension-plan filings, not an official rating. A 4-dimension composite (funded ratio, contribution discipline, 5-year investment return, unfunded burden), each scored against this dataset's own percentile distribution across 197 reporting plans. Not the same as the plan's headline funded-ratio grade above. See the exact dimensions, weights, and formula.

Funded Ratio D

74.0%

Actuarial assets as a share of liabilities

Contribution Discipline F

65.7%

Share of the actuarially required contribution actually paid

Investment Returns N/A

N/A

5-year annualized investment return

Unfunded Burden D

26.1%

Unfunded liability as a share of total obligations

How this score is calculated (benchmark table)

Dimension	P10	P25	P50	P75	P90	Weight
Funded ratio (higher = better)	57.6%	67.2%	75.0%	87.0%	97.6%	0.35
Contribution discipline (ARC) (higher = better)	88.4%	100.0%	100.0%	104.1%	122.1%	0.25
5yr investment return (higher = better)	6.4%	7.5%	8.3%	9.1%	9.9%	0.20
Unfunded burden (lower = better)	2.0%	12.7%	25.0%	33.1%	42.4%	0.20

Percentiles computed across all 197 plans in this database with a reported value for that metric (2026-09-09). A dimension a plan does not report drops out of its composite, and that weight redistributes across the dimensions it does report, so thin reporting never silently lowers a score relative to a fully-reported peer.

Participant Composition

Investment Policy Mix

What changed, FY2023 to FY2024

1 pts funded ratio

Vermont Municipal Employees's funded ratio fell 1.0 points from FY2023 to FY2024, with assets contributing +5.5 points and the accrued liability contributing -6.5.

Funded ratio

75.1% → 74.0%

Actuarial assets

$946M → $1.02B (+7.3%)

Accrued liability

$1.26B → $1.37B (+8.8%)

Where the 1.0-point move came from

Assets: +5.5 pts
Accrued liability: -6.5 pts

Accrued liability is the source-reported value for benefits already promised. The two contributions are the move the ratio would have made on the prior year’s liability (assets) and the remainder (liability); they sum to the total by construction. Both years shown provide source-reconciled actuarial assets and liability, so neither figure rests on a ratio published on its own. Source: Public Plans Database (Boston College CRR / NASRA), loaded July 2026. See our funding-change board for how this plan’s move compares with the rest of the dataset.

Historical Actuarial Funding

Year	Actuarial Ratio	Assets	Liabilities	UAAL	Members	ARC	1yr return
2024	74.0%	$1.02B	$1.37B	$356M	N/A	n/a	n/a
2023	75.1%	$946M	$1.26B	$315M	13,919	65.7%	n/a
2022	77.0%	$893M	$1.16B	$266M	13,256	63.9%	n/a
2021	77.9%	$837M	$1.07B	$237M	12,815	60.7%	n/a
2020	75.8%	$762M	$1.00B	$243M	12,607	91.1%	n/a
2019	80.1%	$718M	$896M	$178M	11,941	111.2%	n/a
2018	82.2%	$680M	$828M	$148M	11,439	116.3%	n/a
2017	84.1%	$635M	$755M	$120M	11,041	127.8%	n/a
2016	78.1%	$582M	$745M	$163M	10,511	100.0%	n/a
2015	77.8%	$544M	$699M	$156M	10,060	100.0%	n/a
2014	86.2%	$501M	$581M	$80M	9,715	100.0%	n/a
2013	84.4%	$446M	$528M	$82M	9,375	100.0%	n/a
2012	85.4%	$417M	$489M	$71M	9,220	100.0%	n/a
2011	92.3%	$403M	$436M	$34M	8,899	100.0%	n/a
2010	92.0%	$376M	$409M	$33M	8,834	100.0%	n/a
2009	90.3%	$331M	$367M	$36M	8,625	100.0%	n/a
2008	101.5%	$349M	$344M	$-5M	8,352	100.0%	n/a
2007	105.1%	$326M	$310M	$-16M	7,907	100.0%	n/a
2006	104.4%	$288M	$277M	$-12M	7,608	100.0%	n/a
2005	104.4%	$259M	$248M	$-11M	7,278	100.0%	n/a

What the Data Says About Vermont Municipal Employees

Vermont Municipal Employees shows a comfortably above-average funding position, 1 points below the 75.5% national average across tracked plans.

For Vermont taxpayers and plan members, the $356M source-reported actuarial unfunded liability is the shortfall this plan must close over time.

Where this data comes from + how funding gaps get resolved

These figures come from the Public Plans Database, a collaboration between the Boston College Center for Retirement Research and NASRA that compiles them from each plan's Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs) and actuarial valuations. The relationship between contribution adequacy and investment performance determines whether an unfunded liability narrows or expands year over year, and the gap itself is typically closed through some combination of higher contributions, investment returns, or benefit modifications. See our methodology for how public-pension funding differs from ERISA-backed private plans, and our disclaimer below before acting on this data.

Membership

8,393

Active Members

4,431

Retirees

13,919

Total Members

Plan Details

Plan Type: Municipal
State: Vermont
Market Assets: $1.01B

Source: Public Plans Database (PPD)
Boston College CRR / NASRA

Other Vermont Plans

Vermont Teachers Retirement System 96.6%
Vermont State Employees Retirement System 76.3%
Burlington ERS 66.5%

All Vermont plans →

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Cite this page

PlainPension, “Vermont Municipal Employees: Funded Ratio, Assets, and Actuarial Data.” Compiled from the Public Plans Database (PPD), compiled by the Boston College Center for Retirement Research with MissionSquare Research Institute and NASRA; data as of FY2023 plan card; history through FY2024. https://plainpension.com/plan/vermont-municipal-employees

Formal citation formats (APA / MLA)

APA: PlainPension. (2023). Vermont Municipal Employees: Funded Ratio, Assets, and Actuarial Data. Retrieved September 23, 2026, from https://plainpension.com/plan/vermont-municipal-employees

MLA: "Vermont Municipal Employees: Funded Ratio, Assets, and Actuarial Data." PlainPension, 2023, https://plainpension.com/plan/vermont-municipal-employees.

You are welcome to quote these figures with attribution to PlainPension and the underlying source. The URL above is stable. See our Terms of Use for what reuse is permitted.

Every figure on PlainPension is rendered directly from the Public Plans Database (Boston College Center for Retirement Research), no number is typed in by an editor. Vermont Municipal Employees ranks #127 of 190 by membership. This information is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice, consult a qualified professional before acting on it. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the typed corrections pathway, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of July 2026.

Compiled by PlainPension · July 23, 2026