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Council ratifies MOA clarifying OPEB contribution calculation; change trims longevity from base for municipal employees
Summary
The council ratified a memorandum of agreement clarifying how employee contributions to the city’s Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) trust are calculated, removing longevity pay from the calculation for municipal employees and estimating modest fiscal differences over three years.
The Warwick City Council approved a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to clarify contract language governing employee contributions to the city’s Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) trust.
Lynn Prodger, presenting the MOA, told the council the change clarifies that municipal employee contributions to OPEB should be calculated using base pay and should not include longevity. She estimated the budgetary effect would be about $4,000 in fiscal 2025, $14,000 in fiscal 2026 and about $23,000 in fiscal 2027; she described those amounts as immaterial to the OPEB trust fund.
Council members discussed parity and historic bargaining positions: one councilor said the change aligns contract language across groups and fixes a drafting error; others warned it does not reflect full total compensation but supported making the correction so municipal employees would not be treated differently.
Action taken: the council voted in favor of PCR 41-25 to ratify the MOA clarifying the calculation methodology for municipal contributions to the OPEB trust.
What it does not do: the MOA does not increase contribution percentages or alter the substantive OPEB plan benefits; it clarifies the salary base used to calculate employee contributions by excluding longevity in the municipal classification language at issue.
Next steps: the MOA is ratified and staff will implement the clarified calculation in payroll and OPEB trust accounting going forward.
