Submitted by Andy Duus
To the Editor:
Amid the noise of the current BET campaigns, many voters may not fully appreciate the meaningful contributions made by Joe Pellegrino — one of the six Republican candidates for the Board of Estimate and Taxation — during his leadership of the Town’s Retirement Board.
As trustee for the Town’s pension plans, the Retirement Board shoulders major responsibilities, including managing the plans and ensuring that payments to pensioners are fully funded.
After serving two terms on the BET, Joe joined the Retirement Board in 2016 and chaired it from 2017 through 2021. For most of that period, I attended Board meetings as the BET liaison and observed his leadership firsthand.
When Joe joined, the Town’s pension portfolio was underperforming its benchmark composite by more than several hundred basis points. Under his leadership, the Board hired Neuberger Berman as an outside, top-tier investment advisor, expanded investment parameters, and adopted improved financial metrics. By 2021 — Joe’s final year as Chair — the portfolio had grown to $613 million, up 26.5% from the prior year versus an 18.2% benchmark. Over the five-year period, returns averaged 10.98% annually, compared to 10.05% for the benchmark.
Equally noteworthy, Joe led the Board in reducing the assumed annual rate of return on the portfolio from 7% to 6%. Though this may sound modest, the assumed return also serves as the discount rate used to value future pension liabilities. Lowering it increases the reported liability — and therefore the required budget allocation — but reflects a more conservative and transparent assessment of the Town’s obligations. Joe had the foresight and integrity to make this difficult but prudent change.
This assessment is not mine alone. In 2021, I served on a bipartisan BET committee that prepared and unanimously approved a special report on the Town’s pension liability. The committee found that the pension plan was funded “well above the minimum recommended ratio” and that we could “not recommend any action” beyond those already undertaken by the Retirement Board. That report remains available on the BET page of the Town’s website.
Please vote for Joe and the full Republican slate for the BET.
Sincerely,
Andy Duus
Note: The deadline to submit letters to the editor about candidates for consideration in the Nov 4, 2025 municipal elections is Oct 28, 2025 at 12:00 noon.