Good news came out of the Carbon County Retirement Board meeting Thursday.

The board heard from retirement fund actuary Hank Stiehle of the Hay Group and investment adviser John Thompson of Emerald."We are at 102 percent funding ratio, which means the value of our assets is enough to meet all of our liabilities," said county Treasurer Ron Sheehan. "Our annual required contribution less than what we had budgeted. So we'll be able to fully fund the (retirement) budget this year."The county budgeted $451,522, and the annual required contribution came in at $328,866, he said.Also on Thursday, county commissioners:• Learned that Chris L. Lukasevich of Jim Thorpe plans to conduct a survey of tourists to the borough beginning Oct. 1 through Dec. 31.The random surveys, for a Lehigh University program, will take place on county and borough property, including the Josiah White park, Mauch Chunk Lake Park and other areas, Lukasevich said.He offered to share the results with the county.• Accepted the resignation of Howard Girer of Jim Thorpe from the Local Emergency Planning Committee.• Approved the district attorney's office plan to apply for a $91,526 Rights and Services Act grant through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency for the Victim/witness program for 2017 and 2018.• Amended a payment processing agreement with Value Payment Systems LLC for credit card transactions.The amendment revises the debit card transaction fee to a flat 1.50 percent. Current MasterCard and Discover debit cards are 2.75 percent, and Visa debit is $3.95 per transaction.The change won't involve the Tax Claim Bureau; it only changes the convenience fee paid by taxpayers.• Adopted an ordinance increasing in the administrative fee the county gets to handle the Hotel Tax to 4 percent from 2 percent. The county earned $9,855 from the fee last year.• Approved a reimbursement agreement with Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad Company, Port Clinton, for 100 percent of the actual costs for railroad flagging and protective services associated with the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor pedestrian bridge project.D & L will actually be the entity that reimburses the county, said county solicitor Daniel A. Miscavige.• Granted a banner request to St. Joseph's Church, Jim Thorpe, to publicize its Octoberfest event from Oct. 1-16.• Granted use of the gazebo in Josiah white Park to Stacey A. Green of Summit Hill for a wedding on Nov. 11.• Rejected a bid for repairs to Rex Road bridge in Mahoning Township. There was only one bid for the Community Development Block Grant project, said Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard, and at $277,485, it was too high.Township supervisors on Wednesday rejected the bid.