NAHANT — The Board of Selectmen voted to table discussions on Essex Regional Retirement System’s (ERRS) proposed 2% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for eligible retirees Wednesday evening.
If approved by at least two-thirds (13) of ERRS’ municipalities by June 30, the rate increase would supplement ERRS’ 3% adjustment last year. It would be applied to the first $16,000 of retirees’ base retirement benefit for fiscal year 2024 starting in July.
6 of the county’s 19 participating communities having already voted in favor of the pension adjustments, and six having rejected it, Nahant stands as a tie-breaker community.
The additional 2% COLA would distribute roughly $6.5 million to more than 2,000 retirees throughout ERRS’ communities. Vice Chairman Joshua Antrim said he was concerned about the adjustment’s potential impact on the taxpayer, given the fact that it was combined with last year’s 3% adjustment.
“We’re asking the taxpayers to give a 5% pay increase to a pension,” Antrim said. “I’m not prepared to vote in favor of this until I have a better understanding of what’s needed and what’s typical for cost-of-living increases at its most fundamental level. We might not get an exact number, but we should be able to at least infer it by knowing how many people are on Nahant’s retirement payroll.”
Recording Secretary Gene Canty echoed Antrim’s remarks, telling the board that he would not feel comfortable voting on the adjustment until he has a better understanding of how it would affect Nahant retirees and taxpayers.
“Isn’t it somewhat unusual to be giving, over the course of a year, a 5% increase to a retirement fund?’ Canty said. “I don’t want to hurt anyone’s retirement … We’re not looking to vote no, we’re looking to vote in favor based on the right information or the correct assessment of what we’re doing.”
Town Administrator Tony Barletta said that as of April, 67 local retirement boards had approved the 5% COLA increase. He reminded the selectmen that the town has until the end of June to vote in favor of the adjustment, and that not voting on the COLA increase by the deadline would serve as a vote against it.
Canty seconded Antrim’s motion to table the vote until the board has a better understanding of the increase’s financial impacts. Antrim added that he hopes to be able to reconsider the proposed increase before the June 30 deadline.
