Citing police and other municipal staffing shortages, the town council in Trumbull, Conn., commissioned a study in January to potentially go back to a more traditional pension plan. But town police may find out soon if going back to a pension plan is the right idea.
Police Chief Michael Lombardo gave an update to the Police Commission on Tuesday and said he is waiting to learn more about the plan from Thomas McCarthy, the town's director of Human Resources and Labor Relations.
“There were some ideas that have come up, he hasn’t shared those with us yet, but I know that he’s looking to share soon, and we hope that the police side of this study will be done in the month of April at the latest,” Lombardo said.
The study comes nearly a decade after the town switched to a 401(k) retirement plan in 2014 for municipal employees. But Lombardo told the commission that more than 11 police department employees have left, with many citing more attractive pension plans in nearby municipalities as their primary reason for leaving. It has become difficult to retain officers as a result, he said..
Police Commission Chair Raymond Baldwin said the more than 11 officers who resigned, cited by Lombardo, did so over the last two years.
Baldwin said the Trumbull Police Department currently has 71 officers, but five of them are still being trained, which leaves only 66 officers available to work independently. According to Lombardo, 75% of municipalities in Fairfield County still use defined pension plans for their police.
Baldwin said the town decided on a 401(k) plan as a cost-cutting measure.
“It was an experiment to save some money; but at the end of the day, if you’re losing police officers and have a continuing revolving door — people coming in and out of the department you have to train — you’re actually losing money,” Baldwin said.
Lombardo mentioned officers leaving for nearby Monroe. Trumbull First Selectman Vicki Tesoro said the study is expected to be completed within three months after it began.
But while the plan was changed in 2014, Baldwin said only around 14 police department employees actually are under the 401(k) plan, since many employees were grandfathered into their pension plans before the switch was made.
Messages requesting comment from the police department and the town’s human resources department on the number of officers still on a defined pension plan were not returned.
Police Sgt. Brian Federowicz, who is also the head of the police union, said he’s heard of fellow officers leaving for Darien, Monroe and Norwalk, which he said all have defined pension plans.
He’s waiting to hear the next steps from the study.
“It just was approved two months ago, so it’s in their hands now. Hopefully they make the right decision,” Federowicz said.
