Membership:
August 26, 2014
Employees, appointed and elected officials of all member units of the Fitchburg Retirement System who earn less than $5,000 per year are ineligible for initial membership
January 10, 1996
All employees of the City of Fitchburg who work a minimum of 20 hours per week for at least 35 weeks per year shall be members of the system and contribute according to existing statutes.
Creditable Service:
December 8, 1995
Buy-Backs
Anyone becoming aware for the first time of his or her eligibility under the 20-hour rule may buy back prior creditable service. Paybacks may be made in a lump-sum payment or through weekly deductions not to be less than $3.00 per week.
Regular Compensation:
October 1, 2010
The Professional Standard Stipend is deemed to be “regular compensation” as defined in section 1 of Chapter 32 and subject to retirement deductions. The Professional Standard Stipend shall be paid to all officers on the Fitchburg Police Department who have obtained firearm certification, attended in-service training, and obtained certification for CPR, first responder and defibrillator. The Professional Standard Stipend shall be paid once a year in a separate check. It shall be 9% calculated on the basis of the top pay for a Patrolman and shall become part of the officer’s base compensation.
The On-call Detective Pay is deemed to be “regular compensation” as defined in section 1 of Chapter 32 and subject to retirement deductions. The On-call Detective Pay consists of a weekly $250 stipend, paid to whichever Detective is on call, which shall become part of the officer’s base pay.
February 9, 2000
Cleaning and Clothing Allowances
Since the retirement board recently voted to include these allowances as regular compensation as of January 1, 2000, these allowances will now begin to be paid.
Miscellaneous:
April 30, 2014
Correction of Errors under G.L. c. 32, 20(5)(c)(2)
In all cases of correction of an underpayment or non-payment of a pension or benefit to a member or beneficiary of the Fitchburg Retirement System which results in a onetime retroactive payment of benefits, such payment shall include interest for such period of underpayment or non-payment at the rate annually determined for such period by the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission pursuant to G.L. c. 32, § 22(6).
In all cases of correction of an overpayment of a pension or benefit to a member or beneficiary of the Fitchburg Retirement System, the amount of overpayment shall be due from the member or beneficiary, along with interest for said period of overpayment at the rate annually determined by the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission pursuant to G.L. c. 32, § 22(6).
Pursuant to the judgment of the Supreme Judicial Court in Herrick v. Essex Regional Retirement Board, 465 Mass. 801 (2013) and PERAC Memorandum #32, 2013, said interest shall be deemed to be the actuarial equivalent of the adjustment to the pension or benefit as set forth in G.L. c. 32, § 20(5)(c)(2).
G.L. c. 32, § 20(5)(c)(2) – 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.
December 8, 1995:
Procedure for New Employees:
All departments shall notify the Retirement Office of any new employees, giving the name, job title and description, rate of pay, number of hours, and source of funding. No new employees will be put on the payroll if the above procedure has not been met.
Annual Questionnaires:
Pensioners and member survivors are required to fill out and sign the annual Questionnaires which must be returned to the Retirement Board within two months of the month they are mailed out