§ 1949 - Post-retirement adjustments to retirement allowances - Vermont Statutes

§ 1949. Post-retirement adjustments to retirement allowances

(a) For all group A members, as of June 30 in each year, beginning June 30, 1972, the board shall determine the increase or decrease, to the nearest one-tenth of one percent, in the ratio of the average of the consumer price index for the month ending on that date to the average of the index for the month ending on June 30, 1971, or the month ending on June 30 of the most recent year subsequent thereto as to which an increase or decrease in retirement allowance was made. If the increase or decrease, so determined, equals or exceeds one percent, the retirement allowance of each beneficiary in receipt of an allowance for at least one year on the next following December 31 shall be increased or decreased, as the case may be, by an equal percentage. The increase or decrease shall begin on January 1 immediately following that December 31. An equivalent percentage increase or decrease shall also be made in the retirement allowance payable to a beneficiary in receipt of an allowance under an optional election, provided the member on whose account the allowance is payable and such other person shall have received a total of at least 12 monthly payments by such December 31. The maximum adjustment of any retirement allowance in any calendar year resulting from any determination under this section shall be five percent and the minimum shall be one percent, and no retirement allowance shall be reduced below the amount payable to the beneficiary without regard to the provisions of this section.

(b) For group C members, as of June 30 in each year, commencing June 30, 1981, a determination shall be made of the increase or decrease, to the nearest one-tenth of a percent of the consumer price index for the preceding fiscal year. The retirement allowance of each beneficiary in receipt of an allowance for at least one year on the next following December 31st shall be increased or decreased, as the case may be, by an amount equal to one-half of the percentage increase or decrease. The increase or decrease shall commence on the January 1st immediately following such December 31st. The adjustment shall apply to group C members receiving an early retirement allowance only in the year following attainment of age 62, provided the member has received benefits for at least 12 months as of December 31 of the year preceding any January adjustment. The maximum adjustment of any retirement allowance resulting from any such determination shall be five percent and the minimum shall be one percent, and no retirement allowance shall be reduced below the amount payable to the beneficiary without regard to the provisions of this section.

(c) For the purposes of this section, "consumer price index" shall mean the consumer price index for all urban consumers, designated as "CPI-U," as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Added 1971, No. 233 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1981, No. 41, § 35; 1989, No. 169 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 1991, No. 64, § 8, eff. June 18, 1991; 1991, No. 247 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 1999, No. 158 (Adj. Sess.), § 13.)