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Hingham Accepts Cola Law
NOVEMBER 2000 - The adage "better late than never" is certainly apropos when it comes to the town of Hingham and Chapter 17, the COLA law sponsored by our Association and enacted back in '97. Over the past two years or so, the Voice has chronicled the ongoing controversy, in which we objected to efforts by Hingham officials to establish their own COLA plan, which was significantly different from Chapter 17. One major issue, on which we criticized the Hingham plan, was that it failed to make COLA increases a permanent part of a retiree's pension as is the case under Chapter 17.
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Most Local Retirees Receive 3% COLA
SEPTEMBER 2000 - Only Five Boards Did Not Vote Full Increase (1999 & 2000) - With few exceptions, our 104 local retirement boards took advantage of the opportunity to vote 3% COLAs for their retirees and survivors for both 1999 and 2000.
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State, Teacher Retirees To Receive 3% COLA
SEPTEMBER 2000 - Effective: July 2000 - Members of the State and Teachers' Retirement Systems will receive their new 3% COLAs in their August checks, the checks mailed at the end of August.
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A Week In Webster Mass
JULY 2000 -  An Insurance Loss, A Cola Victory - Webster, a South-Central Massachusetts town with a population of 16,089, was the emotional scene of heavy Association activity this spring.

Members of that community asked for help with a ballot question, Question 1, which if voted favorably at a May 1 town election would have required the town to pay 50% of its retirees health and life insurance premiums.

Webster’s retirees have always paid the full cost of their premiums while employees currently contribute 15%, with the town paying 85%. HMO members pay 10%, the town 90%. The full cost of a retiree’s Medex plan, for example, is $232.87 monthly.

Twice previously the 50% insurance contribution had been on the ballot and handily defeated. After an all-out effort by our Association, members of the Webster Retirement Board, retirees of that town and their supporters we would like to report a victory. But we can’t. The measure went down to defeat 1,387 to 937 - only a slight gain over previous years.

"Put this one in the loss column," said Association President Ralph White who was not discouraged. "We gave it our best shot and it just wasn’t winnable at this time. We’ve always promised that we would give the retirees of small towns the same support that we give retirees of the large systems such as the state and teachers. Unfortunately, requiring a town to pick up a portion of retirees’ insurance can only be accomplished as a ballot question. We’ll have to try a different strategy next time."

White praised the organizers of the Vote Yes on Question 1 drive. Town Treasurer Dorothy Dabrowski, who is an elected member of the Webster Retirement Board, and her assistant treasurer, Ellie Doros, headed the drive at town hall. Board members June Perry and Lou Polletta, along with retired police chief Paul Minarik, were also key activists.

"Dorothy and her crew were well-organized," said White. There were newspaper ads, phone banks and several mailings. Some towns are tough to crack when the issue is required to be a ballot question rather than a town meeting vote."

COLA Win Lifts Spirits

Spirits of Webster’s retirees were somewhat lifted on May 8, just a week after the insurance loss, when Town Meeting voted to accept the new COLA law, allowing the town’s retirement board to pay full 3% COLAs.

Taking no chances, another full-scale drive was put in motion during the week leading up to Town Meeting. This time, dealing with voters attending an open Town Meeting proved to be more compatible than a town-wide secret ballot. The COLA vote passed with relative ease by a voice vote.

"Town meetings can be tough and contentious, but dealing with reasonable people face-to-face is much more opportunistic than a ballot. This was proven in Webster," White noted. "Of course presenting your case before a city council is even more desirable. However, town meetings are considered by many to be the truest form of democracy, a fact we just have to recognize."

 
New Cola Costs Now Local Responsibility
JULY 2000 - State Payments Gave Systems Head Start - Since the inception of Prop 2 1/2 in 1981 pension, COLA payments totaling $1.371 billion have been distributed by the state to local retirement systems, greatly helping these systems to get a handle on their unfunded pension liabilities.
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