Better Retirement Plan Forces City to Pay

When the Essex (Mass.) Regional Retiremenet Board voted to move a full-benefits retirement for dispatchers from 65 years-old to 60, they immediately began taking out money to pay for it from individual cities and entities within the county. But several of the affected towns, school and special districts haven’t yet accepted the reclassification of dispatchers to “signal operators,” which triggers the improved retirement plan. North Andover officials say they’ve not voted on the retirement change, but pays the Board about $2.5 million a year from employee contributions of from 5% to 11%. City officials say they shouldn’t be charged the new withholding rate until after they’ve voted “Yes” on the change. Read more about the plan here.