The Clinton Police Department has officially joined the state’s Municipal Employee Retirement System (MERS), state Comptroller Sean Scanlon announced Monday.
The department is the first group to join MERS since 2009, largely because of improvements in the system, he said.
The Clinton Police Department consists of 27 sworn officers, six police and fire civilian dispatchers, one municipal animal control officer and two full-time civilian staff members. The department also has two part-time employees.
Scanlon said reforms to MERS, which has more than 10,000 municipal employees enrolled across 107 Connecticut municipalities, were put forth by a bipartisan group of municipal government and labor leaders with a key focus on affordability and sustainability.
He also spotlighted the future of the system, which he dubbed “MERS 2.0,” that will go into effect. Reforms include:
Calculating pension benefits based on average base pay, and
Introducing a defined contribution plan, similar to a 401(k), where employee contributions will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, by the employer.
MERS 2.0 will go into effect on July 1, 2026, for new employees and divisions that join. MERS 2.0 will not change the benefits available to any current member of MERS 1.0.
“Strengthening MERS has been a top priority for me, and the major reforms we have put in place over the last three years are working to ensure that the plan is both sustainable for our cities and towns and that more Connecticut police officers, firefighters and public works employees have the retirement security they deserve,” Scanlon said.
He added that MERS wasn’t “an attractive option for towns struggling with recruitment and retention” for a long time, but with the reforms he is confident other departments will now join.
“The Town of Clinton is proud to support the transition of our active police department officers into MERS,” said Clinton Town Manager Michelle Benivegna. “This transition not only strengthens our recruitment and retention efforts but also ensures our police department is aligned with the rest of the town departments already in MERS.”
