§ 62-193. Cost of living adjustments.

(a)

Definitions . The following words and phrases, as used in this section, shall mean:

Base month means the month and year of the retirement allowance effective date.

COLA means an annual cost of living adjustment.

Cumulative change in the CPI means the percent change in the Consumer Price Index from the base month to the month of October in the year preceding the January 1 of adjustment.

Cumulative COLA means the sum of all cost of living adjustments granted for the retirant since the retirement allowance effective date up to and including the proposed two percent adjustment.

Cumulative COLA limitation means the total number of complete years from the retirement allowance effective date to the January 1 of adjustment, multiplied by two percent.

Consumer price index (CPI) means the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Should the Bureau of Labor Statistics adopt a new base or modify the method of computation of the consumer price index so as to render it unsuitable, the board shall make appropriate adjustments. The board shall choose another index which it determines to be appropriate if the consumer price index is no longer published.

Retirement allowance effective date means the date as of which payments of a retirement allowance first commence. A new effective date does not occur when a retirant dies and a retirement allowance is paid to a beneficiary.

Unadjusted amount of retirement allowance means the amount of retirement allowance that would be paid a retirant or beneficiary if no cost of living adjustments were given, or the original retirement allowance amount initially paid.

(b)

COLA . Retirants who have been retired at least one complete calendar year are eligible to receive a COLA calculated in accordance with this section. The COLA will be effective January 1 of each year.

(c)

Calculation . For each retirant, there will be calculated a cumulative change in the CPI. There will also be calculated a cumulative COLA. The cumulative change in the CPI shall be compared to the cumulative COLA limitation for each retirant and the lesser of the two amounts shall be chosen. The cumulative COLA is then subtracted from the chosen amount. If the result is greater than one percent, the resulting percentage will be used as the COLA adjustment.

(d)

Adjustment .

(1)

A COLA adjustment, if any, will be effective as of January 1.

(2)

Provided that the annual change in the CPI is at least two percent, each eligible retirant will receive an annual COLA of two percent of the original retirement allowance.

(3)

If the annual change in the CPI is one percent or less, then there is no COLA adjustment for that year.

(4)

If the annual change in the CPI is more than one percent but less than two percent, provided that the retirant's cumulative COLA is less than the cumulative change in the CPI, the COLA will be two percent of the original retirement allowance. If the retirant's cumulative COLA is more than the cumulative change in the CPI, then the COLA shall equal the cumulative change in the CPI.

(e)

Upon the death of the retirant, the COLA will continue to the designated beneficiary, if applicable. The amount of the beneficiary's COLA will be determined as if the retirant were still alive, except for option C allowances, which shall be reduced by one-half.

(Code 1979, § 2-314.1.18; Ord. No. 4330-11, § 1, 3-7-2011; Ord. No. 4741-17, § 2, 11-6-2017)