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Abilene council debates TMRS non-retroactive COLA option; council declines immediate action
Summary
City manager presented a proposal to adopt a non-retroactive repeating TMRS COLA (30% of CPI). Council discussed costs, impacts on general fund (~$1.4M partial-year), and firefighter pension obligations, and did not adopt the change at the meeting.
City Manager Emily Crawford presented a proposal for the Abilene City Council to adopt a non-retroactive, repeating cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for the Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) at a special meeting as staff described financial and recruitment benefits and estimated costs.
Crawford told council the option — authorized by a 2023 amendment to the TMRS statute and with an adoption window running through 2025 — would replace the city’s prior pattern of periodic, non-formula COLA adjustments with an annual, non-retroactive plan. She described the most modest available repeating option as a “30% repeating COLA,” meaning 30% of the prior 12 months’ Consumer Price Index would be applied annually (she used the 2024 CPI of 2.9% as an example, which would yield a 0.87% adjustment).
Crawford and finance staff outlined estimated costs. Staff presented an all-funds cost increase from roughly $8.9 million to about $11.4 million…
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