Watertown Budget and Finance sub-committee rejects COLA base adjustment with a 3-0 vote

Hi,

With a 3-0 vote last night the Watertown Town Council Budget and Finance sub-committee rejected the recommendation from the Watertown Contributory Retirement Board (WCRB) to increase the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) base from $12,000 to $14,000. There was spirited discussion and I think the councilors asked good questions of the retirement board. The only justification given by the WCRB for the $12,000 to $14,000 base increase was that "... other communities in Massachusetts are doing this."

Some facts popped out of the discussion:

• The WCRB can grant a 0 percent to 3 percent COLA increase each year - they have never gone below the 3 percent increase
• The Social Security Administration did not provide for a COLA adjustment in years 2009 and 2010. (SSA changes to COLA 1975-2010)
• At 3 percent the COLA increase for retirees each year is $360
• Adjusting the COLA base to $14,000 would increase the yearly payout to $420
• With a new $14,000 base the town would add an additional $1.35 million to the currently $58 million unfunded liability

I believe the council members held strong to the fiscal responsibility policies they put in place starting in 2007. This was a tough test for them and I'm glad to see them pass. Last night two of the WCRB members stated over and over that "we're only talking about $5 a month here... $5 a month – that is less than a cup of coffee per week".

That same logic can be made for almost any area of town service. The cost for adding back the elementary librarian to our schools would be just $.18/month (assuming $50,000 annual salary, $98 million budget and $4,400 average property tax). Individuals matter but breaking down the financials to the personal/micro level mask the impact to the system at the macro level. The school department, parents and most importantly our children had to make sacrifices – all areas of our government have had to make sacrifices our retirees should not be any different.

Noreen Lombard brought up a great point during the discussion – that with the cut to the elementary librarian position, parents are organizing to find ways to fill the gaps and volunteer their own time. We are all going to need to work together to find creative solutions to these challenges. Our elderly and retirees are often pushed out of mind – I know I need to be calling my grandmother more often, so I don't like saying NO to financial help without asking if there are any alternatives.

So I'm ask the Watertown Contributory Retirement Board – Beyond increasing the financial assistance to our retirees what can we in the public do to help our former civil servants.

Also thank you to Noreen, Mark and Rich for attending last night – it was good to see familiar and friendly faces in the audience. I also wanted to thank Kate, Mike, Marilyn, Noreen and David for writing emails to the council. Vinnie Piccirilli, the committee chair read emails from both those for and against the increase. Having those emails provided some balance to the conversation.

While the sub-committee voted unanimously the final vote in this issue needs to come before the full Town Council. The Retirement Board president Tom Thibaut made a vocal plea to the retirees in attendance that they should lobby the five other councilors hard to get this approved. I feel fairly confident that the full council would not go against the recommendation of the sub-committee but I think we should remind the entire council before the vote of how other citizens in town feel about this issue.

Thanks,
Matt MacDonald