Nov. 21, 2007 — The holiday season might be a little brighter this year for more than 5,000 retirees throughout the territory, who will soon receive their long-discussed cost-of-living bonuses through the mail.
Most of the checks were sent out Wednesday by the Government Employees' Retirement System, said Sen. Celestino A. White Sr. A few months ago White sponsored an amendment increasing the bonus amount given to individuals who retired from government service between Jan. 1, 1990, and Sept. 30, 2006. The amendment was tacked onto a measure that also appropriated more than $1 million for individuals who retired prior to 1990.
While those bonuses were sent out soon after the initial appropriation was made, funding issues prevented the other set of checks from being mailed out. The increased appropriation — which went from $1.5 million to $4.5 million — covered the larger group of post-1990 retirees, who should each receive a little more than $800 within the next two weeks, acting GERS Administrator Austin L. Nibbs said Wednesday.
The first of the bonuses — some 2,000 checks — went out just after 5 p.m. on Tuesday, according to a news release from White's office. The remaining 3,546 checks were cut on Wednesday and mailed out around 1 p.m.
"This situation of awarding cost-of-living bonuses to retirees has been a long-standing one," White said Wednesday. "But I was really happy when I heard that the checks had been mailed out. I've received at least 12 calls this morning from retirees simply calling to say thanks. So, this was another situation that we fell behind on that is now out of the way. And it's going to be a happy Thanksgiving for those retirees throughout the territory."
Anyone with questions or concerns regarding the cost-of-living bonus can call GERS' Division of Benefits at 776-7703 on St. Thomas or 773-5480 on St. Croix.
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