mass withdrawal liability

[Guest tcroscut]

I am assisting an employer of a multiemployer plan that has been assessed mass withdrawal liability. The fund has proposed a four year payment schedule of an amount in excess of $3 million. The employer is seeking ideas on how to reduce their mass withdrawal liability and is willing to take an aggressive stance. Has anyone been able to reduce mass withdrawal liability other than by negotiating a reduction in the liability with the fund, obtaining an actuary to rerun the numbers, or extending the term of the repayment obligation?

I appreciate any and all suggestions.

[Effen]

tcroscut - you probably should move this question to the multiemployer board. You may get better responses.

My understanding is that things are less negotiatable in a mass withdrawal since the liabilities are based on termination rates. If the plan is going down, negotiating a lower rate for one employer, just means another employer will need to pay more than their share. That wouldn't fly very well with the employer side of the table.

Also, most of this is statatory, so the actuary has very little control over the assessed amount. That said, mistakes can happen, so it would be a good idea to request a copy of the calculation so they can get an independent review.