In 2013, the City of Webster Groves joined the Missouri Local Government Employees Retirement System (LAGERS), a statewide public defined benefit retirement plan covering local government workers from all across Missouri. This is our story of why and how we made this giant leap forward in providing retirement benefits to our employees, and, we believe, in ultimately enhancing service to our citizens.
Tagged Missouri, Value of pensions, Local Government, cities, Retirement, Retire, value of local government, Retirement Security, Defined Contribution
Jackie Barnett, PHR, SHRM-CP is a long-term public employee at the City of Columbia, MO. She has completed 23 years of service and is the HR Manager responsible for payroll support and benefits for over 2000 employees. The City of Columbia has recently engaged LAGERS to do on-site meetings for its employees in order to better inform them on the value of a LAGERS pension. Since pensions are a great tool to attract, but also retain quality employees, the City wants to educate its employees on LAGERS in order to increase retention among City employees. This is her account of their experience.
Tagged Local Government, municipalities, cities, Financial security, Value of pensions, value of local government, Retirement, reitrement
Local government service is not for everyone. It takes employees and officials who are willing to invest time in their community and deeply care about building quality of life. There are so many areas of life that local government touches – from streets to sewers, schools to streams, youth programs to public safety, community art to secure online services– the people who serve must invest time to learn about and address a wide variety of issues, all to make their community stronger.
Tagged value of local government, cities, municipalities, Members, Missouri Municipal League