Boston Retirement Board Approves 3% COLA
At its June 17th meeting the State-Boston Retirement Board approved an annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 3.0% on the first $13,000 of each retiree’s pension for FY16. Since an annual 3% COLA increase on the $13,000 base is calculated into the funding schedule through 2025, the Research Bureau supported the 3% COLA for this fiscal year. However, we believe that rather than an automatic increase, in future years COLA increases should be subject to more scrutiny. Read more about our concerns regarding: Boston’s sizeable long-term unfunded pension and retiree health insurance liabilities and their implications for future city services and two of the five standards used by the Administration to evaluate its support for the annual COLA increase were not met, including its expected investment return percentage. (continued . . .)
