The one-time opportunity for eligible members to make a RetirementPlus participation decision has ended as of June 30, 2023
On August 3, 2022, then Governor Charlie Baker signed into law Chapter 134 of the Acts of 2022 which–among other changes to how RetirementPlus is implemented for MTRS members–allowed for members who had 1) transferred-in service between July 1 2001 and June 30, 2022 and 2) never responded to their original RetirementPlus participation decision a new special election opportunity period which ran from January 1 to June 30, 2023. The special election period has now come to a close.
Election stats
From the signing of the law until the end of the election period, we have conducted numerous outreach initiatives to inform the eligible members of this election of their rights and actions they needed to take. This included:
- Mailed correspondence
- Emailed correspondence
- Online seminars for eligible members
- Phone outreach, as needed
At the conclusion of the election, a total of 5268 members responded with a RetirementPlus participation decision. Per the statute affecting these members, those who did not respond are now ineligible to participate in RetirementPlus. Any further opportunity would need to be made allowable by legislation as the MTRS’ operations are ultimately beholden to Massachusetts General Law.
Eligibility
The new law provided a final, one-time opportunity to participate in the R+ program only to those members who:
- were not a part of the original election window prior to July 1, 2001, AND
- transferred into the MTRS from one of the other 103 Massachusetts public retirement systems between July 1, 2001 and June 30, 2022, AND
- did not yet submit an election.
All other members were not included in the scope of this legislation. There are other bills related to RetirementPlus currently circulating through the Massachusetts Legislature but whether or not they are ultimately passed into law is subject to the legislative process. For information about these bills, please see https://malegislature.gov/.
Next steps
We ask for your patience until we finalize the remaining parts of the election process, which include, but are not limited to, the following:
Researching contribution rate histories for the nearly 8,000 members eligible for
this R+ election.
Notifying employers of rate changes, as necessary, for members who have not contributed at the correct rate based on their R+ election and confirming the rate changes have been implemented.
Sending member communications:
Calculating and issuing refunds to members who opt-out of R+ and have contributed at 11%; OR
Calculating and sending invoices, with installment options, to members who elect to participate in R+ and have not contributed at 11% (they are required to make up the difference between 11% and any lower rate); OR
Sending confirmations to members who elect to participate in R+ and have already made the required 11% contributions.