La Plata finance committee recommends 457(b) plan, dedicated project manager and delay of $90,000 land study

La Plata’s volunteer finance committee urged the Town Council on March 18 to replace the proposed town-funded pension with a 457(b) deferred compensation plan, hire a dedicated project manager to deliver multiple grant-funded projects, and delay a planned $90,000 land-use survey until the town has a planner in place.

The recommendation matters because committee members said the town faces roughly $1.5 million in secured and pending grant funding for a new police station and the Dorchester Community Center that, if not managed promptly, risks being lost or clawed back. The committee said the 457(b) approach reduces fiscal risk for the town while giving employees portable retirement savings.

Randy Sotomayor, a member of the finance committee, framed the first recommendation as a swap of retirement models. “Our first recommendation is to adopt a 4 57 b, deferred compensation plan for all employees instead of funding the custom municipal pension for police officers and eligible public workers, employees,” Sotomayor said. Committee members listed portability, lower administrative burden and lower fiscal risk as advantages of the 457(b) model. They also flagged…