Holyoke Finance Committee Tables Pension Extension Resolution, Approves Six Transfers

HOLYOKE — February 10, 2026 — Holyoke Finance Committee tables pension schedule resolution after state actuary says 2037 target requires legislative action. John Borak, actuary for the Public Employees Retirement Administration Commission, told the committee at its February 10 meeting that Chapter 32, Section 22F bars any fiscal year's pension appropriation from falling below the prior year's level — meaning the lowest possible fiscal year 2027 payment is $19.9 million, and the longest allowable extension under current law is two years, to 2034, not the 2037 target sought by Mayor Joshua Garcia and Councilor Meg McGrath Smith. Cheryl Dugree, chairman of the Holyoke Retirement Board, confirmed that actuary Seagull Consulting is already performing a biennial evaluation and expects results by May or June. The committee tabled McGrath Smith's resolution pending those findings and approved six other transfers totaling more than $14.4 million, including a $13.4 million health insurance trust fund bookkeeping correction and a $265,000 no-match state sewer infrastructure grant.