Carbon County's retirement fund took a hit during the third quarter, officials report.

During the monthly meeting of the retirement board last week, Robert Crampsie, county controller and secretary to the retirement board, reported on the third quarter investment performance, which ended Sept. 30.He said that the retirement portfolio value at the beginning of the year was $72,833,972, with an adjusted beginning balance of $70,654,073. The adjusted beginning balance is calculated using employee contributions into the fund and disbursements out of the fund.The portfolio value as of Sept. 30 was $73,549,86 $2.4 million less than at the end of August which represents an increase of $2,895,792 for the year.Crampsie said the increase equates to a 4.1 percent rate of return, over 3 percent lower than the actuarial assumption."That (the rate of return) is as of Sept. 30," Crampsie said, noting that October has been an extremely volatile month so far. "I definitely think that after October we will be even, if that. The only thing we can hope for is that November and December have better performance."