State Auditor's Working Group (October 2023 Meeting)

The Fire Relief Association Working Group convened by the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) met on October 4 and finalized its legislative proposals for 2024. In addition to some technical clarifications, the proposals would:

• Clarify the period of time over which investment returns must be allocated to deferred member accounts for relief associations with a defined contribution plan;
• Clarify the benefit calculation and reporting requirements that apply when a relief association is involuntarily dissolved;
• Add definitions to the relief association statutes of “volunteer,” “paid oncall,” “part-time,” and “full-time/career” firefighter;
• Update firefighter and relief association references to reflect the new definitions;
• Clarify when municipal ratification of a benefit level or bylaw change is required; and
• Clarify eligibility for supplemental benefits when a relief association dissolves.

We’ll keep you updated on the progress of these proposals through our monthly Newsletter and the OSA’s Weekly Update. Meeting agendas and information, and meeting recordings, are available on the Working Group page of the OSA website.

Published last in the October 2023 Pension Newsletter