Membership:
July 23, 2020
Any individual who the City of Chicopee and/or any of its departments, any member unit of the Chicopee Contributory Retirement System or the Chicopee Contributory Retirement Board who [is] permanently employ[ed] 20.25 hours or more per week in a position receiving regular compensation of at least $5,000 annually shall become a member of the System. In addition to the foregoing, any elected official who serves in a position receiving at least $5,000 per year in regular compensation may elect to join the System within ninety (90) days of assuming office. Upon becoming a member of the System, a member will continue to accrue creditable service consistent with the Board’s creditable service regulation.
April 22, 1999
I.D.: - Seasonal employees who work more than 20 hours per week for five months or more on a regular basis shall become members of the Chicopee Contributory Retirement System upon reaching eligibility.
December 4, 1998
Rules and Regulations:
Requirements for membership:
A permanent full time employee of any member unit of the Chicopee Contributory Retirement System shall become a member of the Chicopee Contributory Retirement System on the first day of employment.
A part time permanent employee who normally works more than twenty hours per week shall become a member of the Chicopee Contributory Retirement System on the first day of employment.
Temporary employees shall be ineligible for membership, however, upon becoming permanent, the employee shall have the option of purchasing prior service.
Elected officials shall continue to have the option of joining the Chicopee Contributory Retirement System in accordance with General Laws, Chapter 32, section 3(2)(a)(iv).
Creditable Service:
February 14, 2022
A member in service who is employed in a full-time capacity, he/she will receive one (1) month of creditable service for each full month for which the employee receives regular compensation and remits the appropriate contributions to the Chicopee Retirement System, with said service not to exceed one (1) year of creditable service in any calendar year. For the purpose of this regulation, “full time” shall include all salaried employees and all hourly employees who are required to work at least 30 hours per week.
Any member in service who is employed in a part-time capacity throughout his/her entire career, will receive one (1) month of creditable service for each full month which the employee receives regular compensation and remits the appropriate contributions to the Retirement System, with that said service not to exceed one (1) year of creditable service in any calendar year. For the purpose of this regulation, any employee that works less than 30 hours per week is considered part-time.
For a member who has rendered membership service in the System in both a full-time and a part-time capacity, the member shall receive full credit for all the full-time service and prorated credit for the part-time service.
For a member who has rendered membership service in the System in a part-time capacity and becomes full-time within the last three years of his/her service then the System will prorate service accordingly. The part-time service will be prorated based on the full-time equivalency.
Example: If the full-time position is 35 hours per week and the part-time service was 22.5 hours per week – and they have 15 years of service (10 years part-time and 5 years full-time) then we do the following:
22.5 hours x 52 weeks a year = 1,170 x 10 years = 11,700 hours works divide by 35 full-time hours = 334.2857 divide by 52 weeks = 6.4286 years = 6 years and 5 months of creditable service.
6 years and 5 months of part-time service and 5 years of full-time service = 11 years and 5 months of creditable service (not 15).
In the case of the School Department Employees whose full-time employment requires them to work from on or about September 1st to on or about June 30th, including but not limited to cafeteria workers, clerical and secretarial staff, paraprofessionals, etc. said employees shall receive one month of creditable service for each full month the employee is receiving regular compensation, with ten (10) months being the equivalent of one (1) year of creditable service, provided the member returns to work the following school year. School employees who are employed in a part-time capacity shall have their creditable service prorated in the same manner as all members of the system as set forth in this regulation.
The Board recognizes that certain School Department employees, including but not limited to custodians and clerks, are required to work the entire calendar year, and in such a situation, said employee’s creditable service will be calculated based on a twelve (12) month year.
Members of the System may only purchase and receive credit for past non-membership service rendered in a member unit of the System consistent with the provisions of M.G.L. Chapter 32, Section 4(2)(c), or if the past service was rendered under the jurisdiction of another retirement system, such service may only be purchased pursuant to Section 3(5) if rendered in a temporary, provisional or substitute capacity, provided that the individual was excluded from membership in the other retirement system.
Past non-member service may be purchased consistent with this supplemental regulation. In addition, for all service rendered on or after July 1, 2009, no creditable service will be granted unless the individual was employed in a position with an annual salary of at least $5,000 during that calendar year.
July, 25, 2005
Full time employees who become part-time shall have their service prorated as it relates to a full time position. If these employees work over twenty hours per week after switching from full-time to part-time, then these employees shall receive one year of creditable service provided they work all the hours required by their position.
December 4, 1998
Full time employees will receive one (1) year of creditable service provided they work the hours required by their position. Part time employees whose positions have always been part time shall be granted full creditable service. Part time employees who become full time shall have their part time service prorated as it relates to a full time position.
Buyback:
A. For any employee who is not a member of the Chicopee Contributory Retirement System on the first date of employment that employee, upon becoming a member, shall be allowed to buy back their service as a non-member regardless if the employee made contributions to deferred compensation.
Regular Compensation:
Miscellaneous:
August 23, 2016
Payment of Interest - Correction of Errors
The provisions of M.G.L. c. 32, § 20(5)(c)(2) states that when an error exists in the records maintained by the system or an error is made in computing a benefit and, as a result, a member or beneficiary receives from the system more or less than the member or beneficiary would have been entitled to receive had the records been correct or had the error not been made, the records or error shall be corrected and as far as practicable, and future payments shall be adjusted so that the actuarial equivalent of the pension or benefit to which the member or beneficiary was correctly entitled shall be paid. If it is determined that a member has contributed an incorrect amount to the retirement system, the member shall be required to contribute an amount sufficient to correct such error or the board shall pay an amount to the member to correct such error, as the case may be.
The Board's policy with respect to the correction of such errors, and the calculation of what constitutes the actuarial equivalent, consistent with the decision rendered in Herrick v. Essex Regional Retirement Board, 465 Mass. 801 (2013) and PERAC Memorandum #32/2013, shall require the Board to pay to the member or beneficiary, or in the case in which a member or beneficiary has been overpaid by the Board, the amount of the corrected benefit, together with three percent (3%) annual interest on the benefit paid or owed, as the case may be, computed from the date the error occurred to the date the error was corrected. In a circumstance in which the Board owes funds to the member or beneficiary, the Board will make a one-time lump-sum payment of the amount owed, and prospectively from the date of payment correct the error such that the member or beneficiary receives the corrected monthly benefit. In a circumstance in which the Board is owed funds by a member or beneficiary to correct an error, the Board shall in its sole discretion withhold an amount it deems appropriate from the member's or beneficiary’s monthly benefit until such time as the debt is fully recovered. In a circumstance in which the Board is owed funds by a member or beneficiary to correct an error, and the member or beneficiary is no longer entitled to receive a monthly benefit, the Board will seek to recover any amount owed in the most prudent and practical manner possible, and reserves the right to maintain an action in contract to recover any amount due from the member, beneficiary or the member's or beneficiary's estate.