Brandon Twp.- The township board unanimously agreed to adopt a new retirement program for township employees and elected officials at their Sept. 19 meeting.
Effective Oct. 1, 34 township employees will begin participation in the Municipal Employees Retirement System (MERS), a defined benefit program. The former program, Manulife, was stock-market-driven and two employees have chosen to stay with it.
Some highlights of the new plan include an eight-year vesting period, two-percent employee contribution (in addition to the township’s 12-percent contribution) and a requirement that employees must be 55-years-old with 20 years of service in order to retire and start drawing benefits.
One other key point of the plan is that a retiree health care fund will also be created. Previously, funds were taken from the township budget for retirees? health care.
After the meeting, Brandon Fire Chief Bob McArthur, who was part of a committee that was established to study the current retirement program, said he was overwhelmed.
‘We didn’t have any retirement (because of stock market losses) and this gives employees a chance to leave on retirement dates with a modest retirement,? he said. ‘I’m ecstatic.?