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The Retirement Board of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) has called on the House of Representatives to question the university president and the Board of Governors for failing to pay employer contributions to the pension system, resulting in a debt of $48.1 million over the past three fiscal years.
Luis Vicenty Santini, president of the Retirement Board, criticized the university administration for withholding funds that should be allocated to employee pensions. “We cannot continue to have officials who choose not to contribute to the retirement systems. There is a legal obligation,” Vicenty Santini stated in a written statement.
He also noted that the lack of payments has forced the university’s retirement system to sell off investments to maintain liquidity, jeopardizing the system’s stability.
In response to this situation, Representative María de Lourdes Ramos Rivera, president of the Retirement Systems Commission, reiterated her call for the interpellation of the Governing Board and the UPR presidency. She also demanded the resignation of Ricardo Dalmau Santana, the organization’s president, criticizing his inaction in recovering over $60,000 in improper expenses incurred by the former president of the Board, Mayda Velasco.
Vicenty Santini explained that during the fiscal year 2022-2023, the Governing Board left a deficit of $10.1 million by contributing only $143 million, despite the actuary’s recommendation of $154 million. In the subsequent fiscal year, the UPR budgeted $124 million, omitting an additional $30 million. For the current fiscal year, the actuarial recommendation is $155.8 million; however, only $147.7 million has been allocated, leaving an $8 million shortfall. “If damages for the loss of opportunity costs are considered, the debt would exceed $100 million,” he cautioned.
The president of the Retirement Board also proposed legislation to impose legal consequences on public and private employers who fail to make their retirement system payments, including disqualifying officials involved in “schemes to undermine pension plans.”
“We believe that a good bill would impose criminal responsibility and classify the withholding of funds intended for retirement systems as a serious crime,” said Vicenty Santini.
Several legislators concurred on the necessity of holding university authorities accountable. Representative Lisie Burgos Muñiz supported the idea that officials should be responsible for their failures and that the sense of impunity surrounding the management of retirement funds must be eliminated.
Ramos Rivera announced plans to meet with the Fiscal Board to discuss the exclusion of employer contributions from the UPR budgets. She recalled that Judge Laura Taylor Swain has already warned about the fiscal entity’s lack of authority over the university, given that its retirement system was established before the Fiscal Board’s arrival.
“The Board has been violating the University Law, which mandates that they guarantee a retirement system for their employees,” Ramos Rivera stated.
