Commission OKs One-Time COLA Bonuses For Tuscaloosa County Retirees

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Those drawing retirement from Tuscaloosa County will soon see one-time cost of living adjustment (COLA) bonuses on their checks later this year, after the Tuscaloosa County Commission unanimously approved the allocation of the necessary funds during its regular meeting on Wednesday.

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County Administrator Melvin Vines said county retirees — 324 by his count — have not received raises on their retirement checks for quite some time.

"The legislature this year passed a bill that empowered each agency to give a bonus that would equate to $2 for each month that the retiree worked in the system," Vines explained. "The total cost to the county would be a lump sum payment, so we would have to pay the money in to the [Retirement Systems of Alabama], then they pay it out."

The lump sum payment for the one-time bonuses came out to $172,544, which was unanimously approved after a motion from District 1 Commissioner Stan Acker and a second by District 3's Mark Nelson.

The bonuses will be seen on retirement checks after the next fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.

"We appreciate all of the work our retirees did for so many years," Acker said. "It’s a small item with all the inflation going on but it’s what we can do."

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