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Sheriff asks commissioners to consider cost-of-living adjustment for merit deputies' pension; request returned for further review
Summary
The sheriff and the merit board presented options to add a COLA to the merit deputies' retirement plan and asked the commissioners to revisit the proposal in two weeks; commissioners agreed to place the item back on the agenda.
Sheriff Jim Smith and members of the sheriff's merit board presented a proposal to the Kosciusko County commissioners to add a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to the merit deputies' retirement plan.
Alan Oliver, a merit board member and financial adviser, told the commissioners the plan is "97.5% funded," which he contrasted with a state average he described as "80 to 85%." Oliver said the merit board recommends a variable annual COLA capped at 3% tied to the federal rate, available to officers with 20 years of service and to retirees who have had pension payments for 10 years or who reach age 55 and draw the pension.
The merit board presented two options: apply the COLA to future retirees only, or to both current and future retirees. The packet summarized estimated funding impacts: it listed a recommended pension funding figure for 2025 of $637,955; the COLA for future retirees was shown as $851,651 (an additional $213,009.66 in funding), and a combined COLA for current and future retirees was presented with figures in the packet that were not clearly recorded in the audio transcript (the transcript text contains unclear numeric strings). The merit board recommended adding the COLA for both current and future retirees.
Sheriff Smith emphasized retention and recruitment pressures in law enforcement and asked the commissioners to consider the proposal; he asked to be placed on the agenda in two weeks to permit commissioners time to review the materials. A motion to bring the item back in two weeks carried on a voice vote.
What commissioners said: Commissioners thanked the sheriff for savings achieved in the jail food contract and voiced appreciation for the presentation. No final decision on adopting a COLA was made at the meeting.
Next steps: The item will return to the commissioners' agenda in two weeks for further consideration. The transcript does not show a commissioners' vote on adopting a COLA at this meeting.
