2002-06-26 Retirement Board Minutes

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The Reading Retirement Board held a meeting on JUNE 26, 2002, in the Accounting and Finance Department Office, Town Hall, Reading, Massachusetts. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 P.M. Minutes from the April 24, 2002 meeting were not signed by the board members. Minutes from the May 29, 2002 meeting were read and accepted. Approved new membership: .' Charles Helmka RMLD -First Class Lineman 5/22/02 9%+2% Christopher Gray RMLD -First Class Lineman 5/23/02 9%+2% Brian Lees RMLD -First Class Lineman 5/28/02 9 %+ 2% Concord Stanley Papadopoulos DPW -Water and Sewer 6/17/02 9%+2% Reviewed and approved the following vouchers: 2002 Voucher # 36 Town of Reading Treasurer .$405,911.80 June retiree payroll 37 Town of Reading Treasurer $ 2,537.25 June admin. Salary 38 The Graphics Shop $ 58.65 Envelopes with return address 39 The Corporate Connection $ 42.28 Notary Public seal & manual The Board voted to open the minutes of the April 24, 2002 meeting and to amend the section regarding Phyllis Maloney. The sentence which reads "The Board decided that any buy back of time should be at the rates in effect during each time period and also that Phyllis Maloney s current deduction rate should remain at 8 %" should be amended. It should state "It was a consensus of the Board that any buy back of time should be at the rates in effect during each time period and also that Phyllis Maloney's current deduction rate should remain at 8 % ". Phyllis Maloney attended this meeting to speak to the Board members about PERAC's opinion in regards to her membership date in the Reading Retirement System and the corresponding contribution and buy back rates. PERAC's opinion is in agreement with the Board's consensus. The Board voted to concur with the conclusions expressed in the June 11, 2002 opinion of PERAC in the case of Phyllis Maloney in which it is stated that her rate of contribution and her buy back rate are tied to her date of membership (1994). The Board also voted to write a letter to Phyllis Maloney informing her of the Board's decision and of her appeal rights. Phyllis Maloney submitted a letter, dated June 26, 2002, to the Retirement Board at this meeting. In it she stated that she relied upon the advice from a retirement representative for the Town of Reading in choosing to delay joining the Town's retirement system Mrs. Maloney was asked about this statement. She agreed that it was an error, that the representative was not from the Town of Reading or the Reading Retirement System The Board discussed Thomas Fennelly's retirement on 2/1/99. He was retired under a Superannuation Retirement but he may have been eligible for a Termination Retirement under G.L. c.32, §10(2)(a). He was terminated from his position in the Department of Public Works, Water Department on June 13, 1997 as a result of a third positive test for alcohol. The Board voted that Thomas Fennelly was not terminated from his position with moral turpitude, therefore he is eligible for a termination retirement allowance consistent with G.L. c.32, § 10(2)(a) and his pension will be recalculated. Memos received: PERAC - Memo # 25/2002, dated June 6, 2002 - Early Retirement Incentive Program spreadsheet to assist with ERI cost estimates. PERAC - Memo # 26/2002, dated June 7, 2002 - Early Retirement Law seminar to provide assistance and to answer questions about the implementation of the ERL PERAC - Memo # 27/2002, dated June 10, 2002 - Chapter 46 of the Acts of 2002 - On February 28, 2002, Governor Swift signed Chapter 46 of the Acts of 2002 which brings the Massachusetts retirement law into compliance with the federal limitations on the dollar amounts of retirement allowance and the compensation used to calculate retirement allowances. This only affects the highest paid public employees. Only retirement systems whose membership includes individuals who were members of a retirement system before February 28, 2002 and who earned regular compensation above the federal limitations will need to accept the local option provisions of the Act. For 2002, the federal limit is $200,000 and may be higher in certain circumstances.