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Nashoba health district seeks statutory fix for retroactive employer retirement contributions
Summary
Nashoba Associated Boards of Health officials told the committee they need statute changes (Senate Bill 18‑36) to address employer contribution obligations to the Massachusetts State Employee Retirement System after an audit identified unpaid employer shares; officials said unresolved liabilities could threaten the district’s continued operation.
Officials from the Nashoba Associated Boards of Health (Nashoba) told the Joint Committee on Public Service that they need Senate Bill 18‑36 to resolve employer‑contribution obligations to the Massachusetts State Employee Retirement System.
Director James Gareffi and finance officer Theresa Cunahan said Nashoba, a consolidated public‑health district created in 1931 that serves 16 municipalities in Worcester and Middlesex counties, petitioned to join the state retirement system in 1967. A 2014 retirement board audit identified several similar entities that had not been remitting employer contributions; Nashoba’s current staff learned of the obligation only after an audit notice.
The proposed bill would establish a contribution mechanism using current staff salaries and allow the retirement system and affected entities to address back payments through a negotiated resolution. Gareffi told the committee that without statutory relief the district’s auditor warned in February 2024 that Nashoba could be deemed not a going concern and that member towns could lose shared public‑health services.
Witnesses asked the committee to advance the bill so the district and affected entities can resolve liabilities and preserve local public‑health services.
