Membership:
December 19, 1984:
Part-time employment for membership in the retirement system must be at least twenty (20) hours per week on regular basis.
Creditable Service:
January 26, 1994:
Employees who start employment with the City of Westfield under 20 hours/week and are contributing to FICA and MEDICARE can buy-back this time for creditable service on a pro-rated basis after they have become eligible for membership by working 20 or more hours/week. This proration will be based on the number of hours worked -per week when becoming a member to the average of the hours worked while not a member. Members of the Retirement System who drop under 20/hours/week will continue retirement deductions and will receive full-time creditable service.
April 1, 1988:
Creditable Service up to five (5) years will be granted to reserve police officers and firefighters who continue or establish membership in any Massachusetts Contributory Retirement System regardless of the department of employment.
December 19, 1984:
Affidavits are not acceptable as proof of employment. Official city records such as payroll checks or records, board minutes, official department logs, civil service records, etc. are deemed by the Board to be official;
C.E.TA. employees who worked for the City of Westfield and later became City employees can obtain creditable service by make-up payments documented by gross earnings by calendar year and date of services;
Creditable service for paid commissioners is determined by pro-rating hours of service as compared to a forty (40) hour work week. (AMENDED April 1, 1988)
Regular Compensation:
Miscellaneous:
November 22, 2016:
Correction of Errors
The Westfield Contributory Retirement Board will use an interest rate of 1.5% when calculating payments due to errors.
March 15, 2016:
Excess Benefit Plan
M.G.L. c. 32, § 104(b) requires the establishment of a qualified governmental plan excess benefit arrangement, as described in 26 U.S.C. section 415(m), for the payment of benefits in excess of the limits of section 415(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, the Westfield Retirement Board (“Board”) hereby establishes such an arrangement which shall be known as the in [sic] the form set forth in a document entitled “The Westfield Retirement System section 415 Excess Benefit Plan and Trust Fund, effective January 1, 2016,” (the “Excess Benefit Plan”).
The purpose of the Excess Benefit Plan is solely to provide the part of a member’s retirement allowance that would otherwise have been payable by the Westfield Retirement System (“System”) except for the limitations of Internal Revenue Code Section 415(b). It is intended to be a “qualified governmental excess benefit arrangement” within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code Section 415(m)(3).
Pursuant to M.G.L .c. 32, § 104(b), which provides that a qualified governmental plan excess benefit arrangement must be established according to the requirements of 26 U.S.C. section 415(m), the Board will not provide for the transfer of any funds to pay the excess benefits under the Excess Benefit Plan but, rather, the excess benefits will be funded by appropriations in such amount as determined by the Board to be necessary to fund the excess benefits, to be withheld before such appropriations are credited to the System.
To implement the terms of section 104(b) and the Excess Benefit Plan, the Board is authorized to create a grantor trust, with themselves as trustees, to receive and hold contributions from employers and to pay benefits in accordance with the Excess Benefit Plan. The grantor trust shall be established pursuant to the Excess Benefit Plan.
April 2, 2004:
The board will reimburse mileage at the IRS rate for reimbursement and whenever the IRS rate changes, the Board’s rate will also change.