Council considers change in retirement benefits for employees

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SILVERHILL, Alabama — The Silverhill Town Council is considering a change in its benefits which will allow all its employees to retire with 25 years of service, or at age 60 with 10 or more years of service.

Currently, only employees hired prior to 2013 under the state benefits package with Retirement Systems of Alabama are considered Tier 1 employees.

All employees hired after Jan. 1, 2013 are considered Tier 2, which means that they are only eligible to retire at age 62.

The town is currently looking into the possibility and cost of switching all its employees to Tier 1 benefits.

“This is one of the things we are looking in our department,” said Silverhill Police Chief Kenneth Hampfleng during the Dec. 2 council meeting. “A better benefits package will go a long way toward hiring better quality officers and keeping the ones we have.”

Superintendent of Utilities Scottie Smith echoed that that sentiment.

“When I was first hired with the town, we did not have a state retirement package,” he said. “That was a big boost for me when we did get state retirement benefits and I’d like to see us do this now so that our younger employees can get those same benefits.”

In other business Dec. 2, the council:

•Authorized Fire Chief Josh Rice to roll over two mature CDs with United Bank, with a balance of $100,000 each.

•Adopted a resolution declaring a Severe Weather Tax Holiday in February.

•Changed its Jan. 20 meeting to Jan. 21 because of the Martin Luther King Day holiday.

•Gave an update on the Rebuild Alabama Distribution program.

•Discussed switching phone and Internet from Centurylink to a fiber optic system. Two options include Uniti Fiber and Harbor Communications. Silverhill Town Clerk Nikki Haigler said Datatrust, which was authorized by the city to look into the fiber optic plan, recommended Harbor.

•Discussed the possibility of the town participating in the Municipal Workers Compensation Fund Triage Program.