News
Annual Newsletter to Members for 2006
THE NORTHAMPTON RETIREMENT BOARD
The Northampton Retirement Board is comprised of two members representing the city, two members elected by employees/retirees, and a fifth member appointed by the first four.
The fifth member, A. Edwin Putnam, was reappointed to serve another 3-year term, ending in 2009.
Of the two members who represent the city, Christopher Pile is the mayor’s appointee, and Annmarie Baron holds the ex-officio position.
Of the two elected members, Shirley LaRose will be up for re-election in 2007, and Michael J. Lyons in 2008.
The Board elected Christopher Pile to serve as Board Chair this year.
RETIREE COLAS
The Board granted a cost-of-living adjustment to retirees effective July 1, 2006. The increase of 3%, to a maximum of $360 per year, is the maximum allowable under state law.
LEGISLATIVE CHANGES
The state legislature extended to accidental disability retirees the same veterans benefit now paid to regular retirees, and made it subject to local approval. Your retirement board approved the increase, and made it retroactive to date of retirement. The Northampton City Council ratified that decision, and disability retirees now receive the benefit.
The city of Northampton has changed the policies concerning deferred retirements. Vested employees can resign and defer retirement until they are older. If you are considering doing so, please talk to the Retirement staff and/or the Human Resources staff. Under the new policy, you will lose your eligibility to receive insurance benefits.
There are pension reform proposals, some of them controversial, under discussion in Boston. Two websites with opposing viewpoints on these issues are www.pioneerinstitute.org, and www.massretirees.com.
OUR WEB SITE
Our web site now contains screens for planning your retirement. You can work through pre-planning steps and get an estimate of your benefits. To access your information, you need your employee number, which you will find on your paycheck stub. You need at least 3 years of salary history before the estimate will work well.
You can reach us through the city’s website, www.northamptonma.gov, then click on departments. We will have answers to frequently asked questions, as well as our most commonly requested forms. If there is other information that you would like to see, please let us know.
We invite our current retirees to comment on the planning tools that are available. If you have some experienced advice to offer to new retirees, please share it with us. You can email us at BWeeks@Northamptonma.gov.
OUR FINANCIAL PICTURE
The annual report prepared by the Public Employee Retirement Administration, which summarizes 2005 for all retirement systems in the state, was released in June. Based on that report, our investment advisor has prepared the following financial report for you.
We are pleased to report that your retirement system remained healthy and secure in 2005. The Northampton Retirement System earned 10.54%, according to the Annual Report 2005 of the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission, and ranked 31 out of 106 retirement systems for the year. Over the past twenty years, the Northampton System has returned 10.38% on an annualized basis and ranks 38 out of the 106 systems. The table below shows the growth of the market value of the System’s assets since 1977.
By many measures, it was a good year for the economy. GDP grew at a rate of 3.5%; the unemployment rate declined from 5.4% at the end of 2004 to 4.6% at the end of 2005; and inflation, while climbing, averaged 3.4%. Interest rates remained relatively low despite the efforts of the Federal Reserve Board to stave off inflation by raising rates. It was, however, also a year in which Katrina devastated New Orleans; crude oil rose from $43 to $61 per barrel; the U.S. continued to fight wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; and the Federal budget deficit increased substantially.
Other News
- The latest retirement guide published by the Public Employee Retirement Commission has been added to the forms page. The guide is designed quite nicely and is a big improvement over the guide that's been available for years. There are copies available in the office as well.
- An online retirement estimate of benefits calculator has been added to the site and is now available for all members.