Some questions have been raised about retirees from Murfreesboro Electric after the City of Murfreesboro sold the utility to Middle Tennessee Electric, which is a cooperative. Those questions deal with anyone who was hired before 2012 and who retired under the old retirement plan.
Apparently, Murfreesboro City Councilman Ronnie Martin was also asking questions about Murfreesboro Electric retirees during a recent city council meeting...
One fear that has been voiced by several retirees is that their health insurance costs would more than quadruple now that the city of Murfreesboro is overseeing benefits / health plans as opposed to Murfreesboro Electric handling retirement plans for those who retired long before Middle TN Electric bought Murfreesboro Electric.
Murfreesboro City Manager Craig Tindall explained to the city council on July 30, 2020 that Murfreesboro Electric's retirement pension plan will not change.
Tindall said the pension plan is different from the health insurance plan that will see changes...
WGNS spoke to Michael Browning, the Public Information Officer for the City of Murfreesboro about changes for retirees from Murfreesboro Electric. We told Browning that at least two retirees told WGNS that vision and dental insurance policies were dropped and that monthly insurance premiums more than quadrupled - Browning responded, “The benefits provided to retirees under the MED Pension Plan (pre-2012 employees) have not changed. Pension benefits continue to be the same as they were before the Electric Department was sold to MTEMC. Other post-retirements benefits, which are the health insurance benefits, are not part of the Pension Plan. These will change in some cases because certain group policies cannot be continued by the carriers. The City is working to assure that these changes are cost-neutral to the retirees. Therefore, the information that was provided to you is incorrect. The City’s Human Resources Department is working diligently with our provider to secure these benefits so that there is little to no interruption of benefits.”
Meanwhile, Middle Tennessee Electric says they are working to assist with communication efforts between The City of Murfreesboro and retired Murfreesboro Electric Department employees. Amy Byers with Middle Tennessee Electric, told WGNS… “While the City maintained ownership of the MED retirees' benefits after the merger, MTE stands ready to assist in communication coordination with those individuals and cares very much about the stability of benefits for these retirees, whose service to the City was invaluable to building a strong and reliable power system for our community.”
MORE: At the July 30th City Council Meeting, Councilman Martin told the Murfreesboro City Manager that he wants to make sure that Murfreesboro works hard to offer previous Murfreesboro Electric retirees the full insurance plan they had prior to the utility being sold to Middle Tennessee Electric.
WGNS will continue to follow any changes that are made to Murfreesboro Electric Department retirement plans and update you as soon as those changes are made.
