Pensions of Local Career Civil Servants – Financial Equilibrium of the Combined Pension Fund – Sustainability of the Pension Scheme for Local Career Civil Servants and Calculation of the Accountability Contribution

The Belgian Court of Audit examined the sustainability of the funding mechanism for the pensions of local career civil servants, as well as the calculation of the accountability contribution by the Belgian Federal Pension Department (FPD). The audit showed that the funding of pensions granted to career civil servants is based on an increasingly restricted number of working people following their replacement by contract staff. The latest reform does not solve the difficulties with respect to financing and may even add additional strain as local authorities offering a supplementary pension to their contract staff benefit from a reduced contribution level. Moreover, the calculation of the accountability contribution is poorly documented and not highly automated. The Court of Audit makes recommendations to bring the wage costs of contract and permanent staff more closely into line, keep the accountability contribution at a sustainable level, finance the incentive to develop a supplementary pension outside the fund and improve the control environment of the FPD.