Wayne Clark to STRS Board: Sacrificing the July - December Retirees COLA Isn't an Option!

From Wayne Clark

December 12, 2017

Chairman Hill and Members of the Board,

Every month until you resolve the huge multi-million dollar financial inequality you chose to saddle upon the tens of thousands of July through December retirees, I will continue to do everything in my power to make sure this will never be swept under the rug and forgotten! I will continue to speak out about this financial inequity until every July through December retiree knows how they have been "swindled" out of COLA benefits by the people who were elected to look out for their best interest. At some point, I will publicly address all of you at a Board meeting. When that day comes I will make sure everyone knows how you have “swindled” the July through December retirees out of hundreds of millions of dollars while continuing to grant the January through June retirees those same COLA funds. Sacrificing the July through December retirees COLA funds while granting those funds to the January through June retirees isn’t an option. #StopSTRSOHIOinequity

Just in case you have forgotten, below and attached is a copy of the chart that shows how you are swindling July - December retirees out of COLA that you are giving to the January through June retirees. [See post below: Wayne Clark: How numerous STRS retirees are being fleeced by COLA inequities (Board: Are you listening?)]

Wayne Clark

STRS retiree

Wayne Clark: How numerous STRS retirees are being fleeced by COLA inequities (Board: Are you listening?)

STRS July – December Retirees Suffering Huge Losses Compared to Other Retirees

The examples below reflect retirees that retired in 2012 with a $40,000 pension and a $1200 annual COLA.  The first two January-June and July-December columns (A and B) show that the STRS retirees would have been granted the same dollars if STRS had implemented the COLA suspension on January 1, 2014 (using the Annual Calendar) and reinstated the new 2% COLA on January 1, 2015.  The result of STRS’s implementing suspensions on July 1st (using the Fiscal Calendar) is illustrated in Columns C and D.  STRS’s use of the Fiscal Calendar for suspension implementation results in an $8400 loss for the July – December retiree.

Until July 1, 2013 the annual COLA was 3% and a COLA was paid every year on all retiree’s retirement anniversary date since 1971.  

This is why the SERS System is asking for a January, 2018 COLA cessation date.  It eliminates the financial inequity that the STRS plan has promoted.

Click image to enlarge