Backstretch Pension Signup Time Is Here
It’s that time of year when backstretch workers and trainers are advised to sign up or renew their participation in the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association’s Backstretch Pension Fund.
The Backstretch Retirement Fund is one of the most important benefits provided by the MTHA to backstretch workers.
Sign-up begins April 25 at the Laurel Park track kitchen. Workers can sign up there from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day through April 29. After that, registration will continue May 2 through May 6 at the Laurel Park MTHA Office (9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) and from May 9 through May 13 at the Pimlico MTHA Office (9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.)
Anyone currently employed on the backstretch at Laurel Park and Pimlico whose job it is to take care of horses is eligible for the program. However, as in years past, employees must have worked a minimum of 1,000 hours during the past year and provide documentation to prove it in the form of a W-2 or 1099 form or a 2015 tax return.
Backstretch workers and trainers must sign up in person each year to participate in the program.
“Participants will notice we are doing this a little different this year,” says MTHA executive director David Richardson. “We’ve expanded the hours and we, the MTHA Staff, will be handling the sign-ups.”
That is a big change from the past 28 years in which Bill Whitescarver and his late wife, Connie, who passed away last August, handled the annual registration activities.
“I’m much relieved,” Whitescarver says with a smile in his voice. He handles retirement investments at the Chapin Davis investment brokerage firm in Baltimore and designed and installed the Backstretch Pension Plan in 1987.
“I think I’ve done my time,” he says.
The realignment of responsibilities also is a step toward modernization.
“They’re intending to do a lot of recording of information directly on their database which will really streamline things,” he adds.
Whitescarver says most retirement plans are good, whether he designed them or not, but adds, “This one is fabulous. When people see their account balances, their eyes light up. Over the years, they’ve thanked me like I put the money in, though I’ve had nothing to do with that. But it is an extremely positive benefit.”
All the costs, $400,000 annually over the past two years for fund expenses and investments, are approved annually by the MTHA Board of Directors, explains Whitescraver.
Richardson says current plan participants will receive an individual account balance statement to inform them of their account balances when they register this year.
Major elements of the plan remain unchanged. The Backstretch Pension Fund begins covering individuals 21 and older who have been licensed for one year. Each year a person’s earnings up to $22,000 will be used to calculate his/her benefit. As stated earlier, those earnings must be confirmed by a W-2 or 1099 form or an actual tax return filed with the Internal Revenue Service for the tax year 2015.
Early retirement age is 55 with 25 years of service. But plan participants generally become eligible for benefits at the normal retirement age of 65 or on the fifth anniversary of joining the plan, if later.
If under 65 and still working at the tracks, an employee can’t cash out of the plan. But if an employee has worked at the Maryland Jockey Club operated tracks [Laurel Park and Pimlico] for three years – the amount of time necessary to become fully vested in the plan – and decides to leave and does not intend to return, he/she will be entitled to his/her account balance.
Also, when an employee has reached full retirement age of 65, he/she can continue to work and draw on the vested interest in his/her plan’s account.
In January, the MTHA secured Pollard & Associates as the new administrator for the pension plan. Participants can contact Joyce Hoffman by calling 904-853-5385 or by email at jhoffman@pollardpensions.com for questions about accounts or for information about cashing out.
