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Decatur staff gives "Retirement 101" briefing to employees
Summary
Assistant City Manager Theresa Decastro led a Retirement 101 session explaining Decatur’s defined‑benefit pension and optional 457 plan, eligibility rules (rule of 75 for public safety, rule of 80 for general employees), contribution rates, survivor benefit changes and tools employees can use to model retirement scenarios.
Theresa Decastro, assistant city manager over administrative services, presented a Retirement 101 briefing for city employees, summarizing how Decatur’s pension works and what staff should know when planning retirement.
Decastro emphasized that the city’s pension is a defined‑benefit plan — the employer guarantees a fixed monthly payment for life, typically calculated from years of service and salary. Decatur offers two plan groups: the public safety plan governed by a “rule of 75” (normal retirement age often 60, employee contribution 14%) and the general employee plan governed by a “rule of 80” (normal retirement age 65, employee contributions that average about 6% under a tiered structure: 4% on the first $2,000/month and 8% on amounts above). All full‑time permanent employees are members and become fully vested after 10 years.
She reviewed the mechanics used to calculate benefit amounts, including the use of the employee’s highest five consecutive years of annual earnings and multipliers that increase for public safety members. Decastro provided an illustrative example showing how the multipliers and years of service produce a monthly lifetime benefit and noted that retirees also typically receive Social Security and may choose supplemental retirement savings (a 457 plan administered through MissionSquare) as a ‘‘third leg’’ of retirement security.
Decastro reminded employees that overtime is not included in the retirement calculation and described options for beneficiaries and reduced early retirement (with specified percentage reductions for months taken early). She also reviewed administrative items: the retirement plan document and highlighter summary are available in Human Resources and on SharePoint, the plan is governed by a board that includes elected and resident representatives, actuary and legal review occur annually, and amendments (the most recent approved in July 2024 increased survivor payouts from 50% to 75%) are incorporated by staff.
She encouraged employees to use the online portal and modeling tools to run individualized retirement scenarios rather than paying actuaries for each hypothetical. Decastro answered questions from employees about COLA (there is no automatic COLA; adjustments are made only if the retirement board approves one), Medicare participation for retirees, and examples of vesting and buyback options.
The presentation closed with a brief interactive quiz and staff said one‑on‑one retirement calculations are available if employees provide beneficiary data and dates of birth so the actuary can run specific numbers.
