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Retirees ask Waco council for retroactive 70% COLA, cite poverty among pensioners
Summary
A representative for more than 1,200 Waco retirees urged the council to adopt a retroactive 70% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and an ongoing COLA, citing years of no adjustments and poverty statistics among retirees.
WACO, Texas — During the hearing of visitors at the May 20 Waco City Council meeting, Sharon Veil Heatherington, speaking for more than 1,200 retired city employees, urged the council to adopt a retroactive 70% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for one year and to implement a permanent COLA going forward.
Why it matters: Retiree pension adjustments are governed by the Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) and affect retired city employees’ annuities. Heatherington said long periods without COLA increases have pushed hundreds of retirees and their households near or below federal poverty thresholds.
What was said: Heatherington said retirees received no COLA from 2015 through 2023, and that from 2015–2023 inflation rose “over 30%.” She said the city’s 2024 COLA was 1.94% compared with Social Security’s 3.2% increase and roughly 3% raises for current city employees. Heatherington told the council the city’s draft audit showed a $62.2 million increase in net position since September 2023 and argued the city can afford to act.
Numbers cited by the speaker (from handout in meeting packet): Heatherington said that if all retirees were single-income households, 527 of about 1,200 households fell within the federal poverty level last year; if treated as two-income households, 669 households were within the poverty level. She said local neighboring cities (Temple, Hewitt, Woodway, Copperas Cove, Hallsburg, Lacy‑Lakeview) pay the 70% TMRS option and included that list in the packet.
Request and rationale: Heatherington asked the council to adopt a retroactive repeating 70% COLA — which she said is the maximum allowed by TMRS for corrective backpay for prior years — and to adopt a guaranteed annual COLA to prevent future erosion of retiree purchasing power. She framed the request as both a fairness and recruitment/retention issue for city employees.
Council response: No formal council action on the request was recorded at the May 20 meeting. Councilmember Lozano, noting this was their first meeting, thanked Heatherington for the data provided.
Sources: public comment by Sharon Veil Heatherington, meeting packet materials referenced during the comment (handout and attachments in the meeting packet), council acknowledgement.
