Salisbury Township employee pension obligations are expected to increase in 2015.

"We'll see how this plays out in the [2015] budget," Salisbury Township Manager Randy Soriano told commissioners prior to a vote at the Sept. 25 township meeting.

The increase for 2015 is expected to be $32,949.

Commissioners voted 4-0, with one commissioner absent Sept. 25, to accept and certify the Minimum Municipal Obligation for Uniformed and Non-Uniformed Pension Plans for 2015.

The cost for 2015 is projected to be $392,556 for the Non-Uniformed Pension Plan and $300,288 for the Police Pension Plan (at a 2.54 percent contribution rate) for a total of $692,844.

The cost for 2014 was $264,322 for the Non-Uniformed Pension Plan and $295,573 for the Police Pension Plan for a total of $559,895.

In a related matter, Soriano said budget deliberations are underway and would need to be discussed at upcoming. township meeting workshops.

Rescheduled township meeting dates for Nov. 27, which is the date of the Thanksgiving Day holiday, and for Dec. 25, which is the date of the Christmas Day holiday, are to be announced.

In a Sept. 16 memo to the township board of commissioners, Salisbury Township Assistant Township Manager-Finance Director Cathy Bonaskiewich said the calculation of the 2015 plan cost, or MMO, of each plan requires several assumptions relating to the projected payroll.

In her memo, Bonaskiewich also included the 10-year history of annual pension costs per plan, state aid received against those plans and net cost to the township.

Act 205 of 1984, as amended, governs the funding requirements for all municipal pension plans and requires the chief administrative officer of each municipal pension plan inform the governing body of the municipality of the plan's expected financial obligation, or MMO, for the coming year. This must be done by the last business day of September for the upcoming year.

The memo from Bonaskiewich, provided under the guidance of the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System (the Non-Uniformed Pension Plan administrator) and Beyer-Barber (the Police Pension Plan actuary), was to satisfy the legal requirement.