URGENT
MAY 16, 2007
TO: ARLINGTON EMPLOYEES AND RETIREES
FROM: THE ARLINGTON RETIREMENT BOARD
RE: HOUSE BILL 3749, SECTION 5
The Arlington Retirement Board needs your help opposing House Bill 3749, Section 5, which was filed by Governor Deval Patrick and would require Arlington and 35 other retirement systems to turn their pension funds over to the State. The Arlington Retirement Board is unanimously opposed to this legislation, along with the Massachusetts Firefighters Association and other unions and professional associations including the Massachusetts Association of Contributory Retirement Systems (MACRS) representing 420,000 active and retired Massachusetts public employees.
One of the most troubling aspects of the Governor’s legislation is the provision that the performance of Arlington and other local retirement systems is measured by five years of investment results. Since our retirement fund will be in existence so long as the Town of Arlington has employees and retirees, your Retirement Board has taken a long-term approach toward the management of the retirement portfolio. As a result the Board believes that investment performance should be judged not by looking at five years of performance, but rather by looking at performance since 1985, the year the fund was started. During the period since 1985, Arlington has averaged an investment return of 10.40 percent. This performance places Arlington in the top 30 percent of local retirement systems over the past 22 years.
The State made a similar attempt in the late 1980’s to take over the assets of local retirement systems. At that time Arlington’s employees and retirees were unanimously opposed to such a takeover, and were able to help defeat the takeover attempt by a massive letter writing campaign to state legislators. The Retirement Board asks you to mount a letter writing campaign similar to the 1980’s. Please contact your local Senator and State Reprentative as well as the following key Arlington legislators:
Representative Jay R. Kaufman Senator Robert A. Havern
Chair, Committee on Public Service State House
State House Room 109D
Room 156 Boston, MA 02133-1053
Boston, MA 02133 Phone 617-722-1432
Phone 617-722-2240
Your message to legislators should be simple and can be summarized as follows:
“As an Arlington (employee) (retiree) I am opposed to the State takeover of our pension funds as set forth in House Bill 3749, Section 5.”
If you have any question please call Rich Greco, Retirement Administrator at 781-316-3370.
| 
