The Spring 2025 General Meeting
I hope you were able to attend the General meeting last month. Besides the usual CMERA business, Jon Salstrom presented a lot of information regarding our pension fund. Yes, it is not where it should be but there are some signs of improvement. The slides he used in his presentation are posted on the website under Meeting Information.
Also posted is a link to a video of the meeting itself.
Ur next General Meeting is on October 11 at the same location, First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati.
Website Update
CMERA has begun to refresh its website. This is a long-term project since the leadership of CMERA has limited knowledge of website design. If you have any ideas for the website, let us know. If you have any skills that can assist with website design, please let us know.
City Budget
The City released its proposed biennial budget for 2026 and 2027. It includes an 18.5% employer pension contribution rate for next year and a 19.25% contribution rate for 2027. These increases will certainly help, but may not cure the pension fund shortfall by the year 2045. Certainly, these rates are greater than the 16.25% rate the City used for many years.
How the Spring Newsletter Became Reality.
The Christmas season is over. Decorations have been put away for another year.. Now it’s time to begin the CMERA’s Spring newsletter. It all starts in late January when the Executive Committee meets to conduct its regular business and begins to explore articles for the newsletter. A preliminary list of articles is started, and committee members then have a few weeks to think of additional ones. In late February, the list is reviewed, articles selected, and writers assigned. The articles selected are intended to inform and educate members. Sometimes a guest writer may contribute if the topic seems pertinent to the members. Draft articles are submitted to the President for review by the middle of March. After that review, the articles are then distributed to all Executive Committee members for review. Once that internal review is completed, the articles are sent to a design consulting firm. That company adds the colorful logos, article headers, and places the text within the newsletter to give it a professional appearance. Once the first version of the newsletter is complete, it is sent to all Executive Committee members for a review. This is done around the end of March. After that review, edits are sent to the designer firm for changes. A second draft version is produced and reviewed. Upon completion of that review, the designer firm prepares a proof copy which is approved by the President. Meanwhile, a mailing list is compiled by CMERA’s database manager and sent to the designer company. The newsletter and mailing list are forwarded to a professional printing company. The printer reproduces the newsletter and inserts the names from the mailing list. Finally, the printer applies the appropriate postage and delivers to the Post Office around the middle of April. The Post Office then delivers the newsletter. If all goes according to that plan, active members receive the newsletter about three weeks ahead of the Spring meeting. After the Spring meeting, the process begins again for the Fall newsletter.
The Economy
I’m not an expert on the economy, but this I know. The value of my IRA is up one day and down the next. For the year so far, it has been down. I can speculate that the investments of our pension fund are also suffering the same up-and-down fate. (I hope not.) The CRS Trustees do a good job of investing for the long run, but no one can predict the market with certainty.
Looking ahead, the annual adjustments to Social Security benefits are based upon a formula that factors in the rate of inflation. The higher the rate of inflation, the more the increase. This year, the rate of inflation has been lower than in previous years. If that trend continues, the annual increase will also be lower for next year.
Taxes & Medicare
If you receive Social Security payments and received an increase in your monthly benefit this year, be aware that the extra income may increase the amount you owe on income taxes. Also, a greater income could trigger higher Medicare premium costs.
Until next month
Note: The statements and opinions expressed in the CMERA Chronicles are my own (Chuck Cullen) and may or may not reflect the views of the Governing Board of CMERA.