At the Board’s last meeting, Elected Member Richard Crespi proposed that the Board change the COLA base, raising it from $12,000.00 to $15,000.00 over a three year period.  After reviewing the statistics below and being cognizant of the economic times, the Board has asked Mr. Masterson, Executive Director, to contact the Board’s Actuary to determine what the costs would be and how those costs would impact the appropriation.  The Board also asked Mr. Masterson to research the costs associated with adopting MGL. Ch. 32 Sec. 90A, C & D in order to have as much information as possible.  Once the Board is aware of all of the options available to them and the financial implications of each, they will discuss them and render a decision.

Retirement Boards who have voted to increase the COLA base:

$13,000.00

  • Andover
  • Everett
  • Franklin Regional 
  • Holyoke
  • Lowell
  • Northampton
  • Stoneham
  • West Springfield
  • Weymouth

$14,000.00

  • Worcester Regional
  • Easthampton
  • Gloucester
  • Greenfield
  • Northbridge
  • Pittsfield
  • Plymouth
  • Taunton

$15,000.00

  • Milton

$16,000.00

  • Blue Hills Regional School

$18,000.00

  • Montague
  • Swampscott

The following Systems Barnstable County and Haverhill have voted to raise the COLA base by a thousand dollars each year for three years to $15,000.00.  Middlesex County has voted to raise the base a thousand dollars each year for 2 years.

Please note that the Legislative Body of each of the aforementioned systems must accept the change before it can become effective.

Did you know?
  • Public employees in Massachusetts do NOT contribute to Social Security
  • The median retirement allowance is $19,978.00 per year
  • The average retirement allowance is $24,706.00 per year
  • That over 400 (414) people receive less than $12,000.00 per year
  • Removing the highest 10% grossing retirees, the median becomes $18, 041.00 and the average becomes $19,781.00

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