Proposed Pension Change Would Cap Warwick Retiree Cost-of-Living Adjustments at 2%
Ward 6 Council candidate Michelle King asks: If the formula produces more than 2%, where does the difference go?
WARWICK, R.I. — Warwick is considering a significant change to the way municipal retirees' cost-of-living adjustments are calculated. An administration backed ordinance would replace the City's existing pension formula with one based on five-year investment performance, with annual adjustments ranging from 0% to no more than 2%.
Under the existing formula, retirees are scheduled to receive a 3.37% adjustment on July 1, 2026, following a year in which no COLA was granted. Ward 6 City Council candidate Michelle King says employees and retirees deserve a clear explanation of why the system is being changed, how the new formula was developed, and what it could mean for their retirement.
The ordinance, PCO-33-26, would place a hard cap on future adjustments at no more than 2%. Annual adjustments would still require Retirement Board approval and could range from 0% to 2%.
"My concern is simple," King said. "The current system can give retirees more than 2% when the conditions allow. This proposal would cap them at 2%. Before we make that change, employees and retirees deserve to understand why."
Under the existing system, strong investment returns can go into a reserve called the COLA Bank, which helps fund future adjustments. The City’s 2025 actuarial valuation reported about $4.73 million remaining in that reserve. The proposed ordinance does not say what happens to any amount the new formula calculates above 2%.
"If the new formula calculates more than 2%, what happens to the difference?" King asked. "Is any of it saved for future years? And if the formula produces 0%, what does that mean for retirees when prices keep going up?”
In March 2025, the Warwick Retirement Board discussed changing the formula so retirees could receive a COLA more consistently, possibly every year. The proposal now before the Council still allows adjustments to fall to zero.
"If consistency is the goal, the City should be able to show how the proposal delivers it," King said.
King said she recognizes the City’s financial pressures. "Warwick has to plan for its long-term financial stability, and I’m not suggesting we avoid hard decisions," she said. "But before changing how retirement benefits are calculated, the City should explain the financial need, how much the change would save, and what other options it considered. People have planned their retirements around this system for their entire careers. Our municipal employees deserve a clear explanation and an opportunity for meaningful discussion."
King said the pension proposal also illustrates a larger concern about how information reaches residents and is calling on the administration to publish a plain language summary of the proposal, including projected savings and the expected effect on retirees before the Council votes. While the City Council has yet to publicly announce when the ordinance will be heard in committee, King is encouraging the council to make the information publicly available with sufficient notice for retirees and city employees with questions to be able to attend or contact their council members.
She believes the ordinance also shows how hard it can be for residents to understand legislation that affects them. In the coming weeks, she will release proposals to make consequential local legislation easier to understand, building on the plain-language standard Rhode Island adopted in 2024 for statewide ballot questions.
"Posting an ordinance isn’t the same as explaining it,” King said. “Residents should be able to quickly understand what the law says today, what is being changed, who may be affected, and why the change is being proposed."
More information is available at KingGreenForWarwick.com.
About Michelle King
Michelle King is a healthcare professional, wife, mother of two, youth soccer coach, and active community advocate who serves on the Oakland Beach Community Association board and the Warwick Health Equity Zone leadership board. A first-time candidate for Warwick City Council Ward 6, she is focused on keeping Warwick affordable, strengthening schools and neighborhoods, improving transparency and community engagement, encouraging responsible growth, and protecting the green spaces and coastline that make Warwick home.
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