Pension-Reform Savings: $2.27 Million

Rhode Island’s new pension-reform law will save Barrington taxpayers approximately $2.27 million in the next fiscal year and tens of millions more over the next couple of decades.

The savings figure for next year comes from calculations on Rhode Island Treasurer Gina Raimondo’s website.

Barrington Finance Director Dean Huff confirmed those savings last week a few days after Gov. Chafee signed the pension-reform bill into law after it got overwhelming support by the General Assembly.

Barrington still will see an approximate $630,000 boost in its pension payments next year, Huff said. But that amount is far less than the estimated $2.9 million increase that was being forecast last spring.

Huff said the exact savings will not be known until any changes caused by any last-minute amendments to the bill are calculated. But the $2.27 million in savings is pretty close to what Barrington will save next year in contributions to retirement plans for public workers and teachers.

The new pension law suspends cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for retirees, raises the retirement age to the Social Security minimum with some exceptions for certain types of workers, and combines a defined-benefit pension plan with a (401)k-style plan.

More than 66,000 current and retired state workers, teachers and municipal employees are affected by the law.

Public-employee unions are expected to challenge the new law in court. But for right now, Barrington taxpayers can expect to pay a lot less than the estimated payment that dominated debate at the annual Financial Town Meeting in May.