Positive Developments Continue Statewide
When it comes to the local COLA (Cost-of-Living-Adjustment), there has been a tremendous amount of activity over the past year and positive developments statewide. As you can see here, Mass Retirees has been at the center of this COLA activity.
Local retirement boards continue to increase the COLA base, with some voting this spring to shatter the $18,000 ceiling and push past the $20,000 threshold.
For members of the State and Teacher Retirement systems, a major legislative push is now underway to increase the COLA base for the first time since 2011.
COLA BASES: ANNUAL OVERVIEW (As of 4/6/2023) 104 RETIREMENT SYSTEMS
$12,000 Base
- Amesbury
- Chelsea
- Fall River
- Marblehead
- Marlborough
- Newton
$13,000 Base
- Attleboro
- Belmont
- Beverly
- Braintree FY25
- Danvers
- Gardner
- Hampshire County
- Haverhill
- Leominster
- Milford
- Natick
- North Adams
- Northampton
- Revere
- State
- Teachers’
- West Springfield
- Westfield
- Weymouth
- Winthrop FY24
$14,000 Base
- Adams
- Andover
- Berkshire County
- Brockton
- Concord
- Dukes County
- Everett
- Falmouth
- Fitchburg FY24
- Gloucester
- Greenfield
- Hingham
- Holyoke
- Lawrence FY24
- MassPort
- Minuteman RSD
- New Bedford FY24
- North Attleboro
- Northbridge
- Reading
- Shrewsbury
- Southbridge
- Springfield FY24
- Swampscott
- Waltham
- Watertown
- Webster FY24
- Winchester
$15,000 Base
- Arlington
- Boston
- Brookline
- Dedham
- GLSD
- Lexington
- Lynn
- Maynard
- Newburyport FY24
- Norwood
- Peabody
- Quincy
- Salem
- Somerville
- Stoneham
$16,000 Base
- Chicopee
- Easthampton
- Essex Cty
- Framingham
- Melrose
- Middlesex County
- Needham
- Pittsfield
- Plymouth FY24
- Taunton FY24
- Wakefield
- Woburn
- Worcester FY24
- Worcester County
$17,000 Base
- Franklin County
- Hull
- Lowell
- MHFA FY24
- MWRA
$18,000 Base
- Barnstable County
- Blue Hills RSD
- Cambridge FY24
- Clinton
- Hampden County
- Malden
- Medford
- Methuen
- Milton
- Montague
- Norfolk County
- Plymouth County FY24
- Saugus
- Webster FY24
$19,000 Base
- Wellesley FY24 ($20,000 FY25; $21,000 FY26)
$20,000 Base
- Bristol County FY24
5% FY23 COLA Update LOCAL MOMENTUM INTENSIFYING
Momentum is intensifying among local retirement boards to increase their current 3% COLA for this fiscal year (FY23) to 5%. As part of the FY23 State Budget, the Association succeeded in enacting a local option law, allowing local retirement systems to increase this year’s (FY23) 3% COLA by 2% to 5%, which is retroactive to July 1, 2022.
This new law requires a two-step approval process. First, a retirement board must vote in favor, and then it must be approved by the “local governing body” for that board. This second step was not in our original proposal nor supported by us.
For a county or regional retirement system, the second step is more complicated. Their governing body consists of the towns in the system, and the select boards in two-thirds of those towns must approve the 5% COLA. And for some city retirement systems, the city charter may require that the 5% COLA must be recommended first by the mayor or city manager before a vote by the city council. Even with the second step, several county, regional and city retirement boards (see chart below) took on the challenge of securing the approval by their governing body.
As of April 6, the additional 2% COLA has been approved by 65 local retirement boards. Of these systems, the increase to 5% has received full approval by 48 retirement boards and their local governing bodies. Included in the “fully approved” list is Norfolk County which has the distinction of being the first county or regional system to adopt the FY23 5% COLA.
The systems in BOLD below have fully approved the COLA increase:
- Bristol County
- Franklin County
- Hampshire County
- Middlesex County
- Norfolk County
- Worcester County
- Adams
- Andover
- Arlington
- Attleboro
- Beverly
- Boston
- Braintree
- Cambridge
- Chicopee
- Clinton
- Easthampton
- Fairhaven
- Fall River
- Falmouth
- Fitchburg
- Gloucester
- GLSD
- Greenfield
- Hull
- Lawrence
- Leominster
- Lowell
- Lynn
- Marblehead
- MassPort
- Maynard
- Medford
- Melrose
- Methuen
- MHFA
- Milford
- Milton
- Minuteman RSD
- Montague
- Needham
- Newburyport
- Newton
- N Adams
- Northampton
- Northbridge
- Norwood
- Pittsfield
- Plymouth
- Revere
- Salem
- Saugus
- Somerville
- Southbridge
- Springfield
- Stoneham
- Taunton
- Wakefield
- Waltham
- Webster
- Wellesley
- Westfield
- Winchester
- Woburn
- Worcester