As we begin the New Year I want to thank our RFFOW Board of Directors for the time and effort they put in and for the personal expertise they each bring to the administration of the Retired Firefighters of Washington. I also want to thank Amalia Akagi our Administrative Assistant for her dedication and service, and Ray Sanderson for his knowledge of the LEOFF 1 retirement system, and the articles he submits for our monthly Newsletter to inform and educate our members. Last but not least I want to thank you, our members for your support and continued membership. An organizations is only as good as its members and ours are the best as indicated in the many messages and cards we receive during the year and Christmas season.

The projected cost of living for 2021 is 4.75 percent. About $156.00 per month on a monthly pension of $3,300.00, $190.00 per month on a pension of $4,000.00 per month and $213.00 per month on a pension of $4,500.00 per month. The 2022 increase should be on the April 2022 LEOFF 1 pension check. As a reminder the cost of living increase is not calculated by your former employer, the Association of Washington Cities, or the Department of Retirement Systems, DRS. The CPI is computed by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington DC. The CPI usually reported annually based on a certain market basket of goods including rent and I believe, the price of houses. The CPI may differ in different parts of the US. The CPI used by DRS is posted for the Seattle, Everett index.

Based on all indications the cost of living for 2022 paid in 2023 is going to be in the double digits based on the inflation we are witnessing today. I remember when people were buying homes when the mortgage rates were as high as sixteen percent. Their house payment didn’t equal the mortgage payment plus interest. This was referred to as negative amortization. Each month after making the house payment they owed more than the previous month. I remember I was involved in the union, a friend of mine who retired under the LEOFF 1 retirement system two years before me with the same rank and years of service was receiving more in retirement than I received when I retired. Why? Because he received full double-digit cost of living for two or three years and I worked during those years when the union contracts didn’t equal the full cost of living. Some may think that the cost of living increase or inflation does not bother them because they don’t purchase that much. Look at it this way: if you put $100.00 in a tin can and buried it in the backyard for two years, two years later when you retrieve the can, if inflation was ten percent for each of the two years, you would only be able to buy eighty percent of what you could have purchased when you buried the can. Unlike LEOFF 1 retirees, those with some other pensions that don’t have a cost of living adjustment really suffer.

The 2022 Legislative session was called to order on January 10, 2022. This being an even numbered year, it is designated as a sixty-day session, although the Governor can call for a special session after the regular sixty-day comes to a close. They don’t like to call a special session in an election year for fear that the voters might register their displeasure when voting in the November elections and 2022 is an election year.