News  Transit Police Retirees Overpaid by More Than $470,000 in Benefits

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) examined allegations that the MBTA Police Association Retirement Plan overpaid supplemental and disability retirement benefits to several retirees. During its investigation, the OIG found that the Retirement Plan had overpaid 24 retirees $470,217 in supplemental retirement benefits and disability retirement benefits.

The Retirement Plan serves employees of the MBTA’s Transit Police Department. Both the MBTA and members of the Retirement Plan contribute to the plan at annual rates that are negotiated as part of the transit police officers’ collective bargaining agreement. Between 2014 and 2019 the MBTA contributed more than $15 million to the plan.

The OIG determined that the Retirement Plan overpaid the retirees because it had poor internal controls and no system to track and terminate payments when retirees were no longer eligible. When the new executive director of the Retirement Plan discovered the overpayments, she put controls in place to ensure the plan pays the correct retirement benefits going forward. The Retirement Plan also entered into repayment plans with the retirees who received the overpayments.

In its letter to the Retirement Plan’s board of directors, the OIG recommended that its board members attend a training on the fiduciary duties and responsibilities of boards and commissions, document its internal controls in writing, and conduct more robust annual audits that examine the Retirement Plan’s internal controls.

For more information see: OIG Letter to MBTA Police Association Retirement Plan Regarding Overpayments, May 2021 (pdf)