11/6 Weekly Email
Hi all,
I have some new information and surveys this week. This is the first week rsvps for our holiday party are open - please rsvp asap so we can properly plan for the party. Please also take the Employee Development survey near the bottom if you haven’t already - it represents some very important data that will help us improve class access and offerings.
Veteran’s Day: This coming Tuesday, November 11th, is Veterans Day and a Tempe holiday. Please don’t come to work if you’re not scheduled.
If you’re interested, several Valley cities will be hosting Veterans Day Parades. Tempe’s will take place on Mill Ave and start around 10am. More details are in this link.
Storm Response Survey: I put together a very brief survey for members to provide feedback about how their workgroups responded to the major storm on 10/13/25. Please provide UAEA with some feedback and/or suggestions about things that went well or ways that you think your workgroup could improve their responses in the future. I can bring up responses in some upcoming Labor Management Meetings and hopefully make life easier down the road.
Retirement Fair Notes: I attended the retirement fair on 10/23 and walked away with a few new notes. I’m working on a larger writeup and guide to retirement but wanted to pass this information along immediately.
Medical Insurance: Arizona State Retirement (AZSRS) offers post-retirement medical and dental insurance coverage. Retirees in AZSRS can opt to sign up for the plans if they are eligible for Medicare and fees for the coverage are deducted automatically from the monthly AZSRS checks (if your check is high enough to cover the full amount). They also partially subsidize the insurance coverage if you have multiple years of service time - this is known as the “Health Insurance Premium Benefit.” If you have more than 5 years of service time with AZSRS when you retire, they will cover $50/month - if you have more than 10 years of service, they’ll cover $100/month. I know a lot of people wonder where they’ll get or how they’ll pay for insurance after they leave Tempe - depending on what sort of coverage you need, this may be a good option.
Beneficiary Premiums: In most cases your AZSRS pension pays out on a monthly basis until your death and then stops. There are other options though - there are at least 6 different ways you can choose to receive your benefits that range from ensuring your spouse gets a few additional payments after your death to ensuring they get a continued monthly annuity until their own passing. That said, some of these options require that you receive a lower monthly benefit from AZSRS until your passing, so there are some tradeoffs to consider.
The same applies for the Health Insurance Premium Benefit - you can opt in to receive a lower amount each month but in return your spouse will continue receiving the health insurance subsidy after you pass. You can check what the reduced benefit would be by going to the AZSRS website, clicking on the “Retiree” tab and then the “Healthcare” tab, and then clicking “Calculate your Optional Premium Benefit.”
Retirement Formula: Your monthly retirement pension is set by a simple formula that multiplies your total service years by your average monthly compensation (36 or 60 month average, based on when you joined AZSRS), multiplied by the “Graded Multiplier," a number that starts at 2.1% and goes as high as 2.3%, based on your total years of service. Someone with 15 years of service at retirement making $3600 on average per month could calculate their monthly pension as 15 multiplied by $3,600 multiplied by 0.021 = $1,134/month - that would be 32% of their normal monthly income. It’s worth noting that all you need to do to calculate the percentage of your income is multiply your service years by the graded multiplier - for 30 years of service, for instance, the graded multiplier is 2.3%, meaning your monthly pension would be 69% of your monthly income. As far as I can tell, the only way to reach full replacement of one’s income is to work 44 years in AZSRS - that would entitle someone to a monthly premium of 101% of their monthly income in retirement. I have two points here - first, it’s pretty easy to calculate how much you’ll get from AZSRS once you have the formula. Second, given the way the formulas work AZSRS will almost never be the sole source of income in retirement - individuals should plan to supplement it with money from their 457k, Social Security, or personal savings.
For reference, here are the graded multipliers
0-19.99 years of service - 2.1%
20-24.99 years of service - 2.15%
25-29.99 years of service - 2.2%
30+ years of service - 2.3%
Working After Retirement: AZSRS members can continue working after retirement but cannot work full time for an AZSRS employer without losing their benefit. There are 4 ways they can get around this restriction.
Work for a non-AZSRS employer
Work as a temporary worker at an AZSRS employer
Work less than 20 hours/week for an AZSRS employer
Work full time for an AZSRS employer but only after you are past a normal retirement threshold and at least 365 days have passed since your formal retirement.
Again, I’m working on a larger overview of retirement but wanted to pass this information along. Please let me know if you have any questions or things you would explained about retirement in the near future - I’m more than happy to do some research and find the answers.
Holiday Party RSVP: This is the rsvp for our annual holiday party. I will be updating bulletin boards across the City this coming week with a poster and QR codes for this event. We will be at Spokes on Southern from 430pm to 7pm on Thursday, December 4th. Please note that this is the first year we will be allowing plus ones - you can bring a friend, partner, or family member as long as they are above 21 (Spokes has restricted entry for underage individuals). Please also make sure to rsvp by Thursday, November 27th - we need to give a final count to Spokes a week in advance.
We recognize that this time may overlap with some member’s normal work schedules. We apologize for the inconvenience and want to do something for those who can’t attend due to their work schedule - if that applies to you, please fill out this survey.
Wellness Leave: Please see the attached email for details about the annual wellness leave program. There are a few caveats but the basic idea is that you can convert some sick time (once you reach a certain level) to wellness time, which can be used for any purpose, not just sick leave.
Sky Harbor Parking: Tempe just signed a contract with Sky Harbor giving employees 20% off of online parking reservations. If you’re planning to travel from Sky Harbor during the holidays it may be worth it to take a look at their discounts. That said, also be mindful when traveling in the next few weeks that air travel is currently being disrupted by the suspension of pay for TSA agents and Air Traffic Controllers - many flights out of Sky Harbor are being delayed by over an hour and experts are expecting it will only get worse.
Food Bank & Misc Resources: Due to disruptions in SNAP funding, I’m including a few resources below. Please take advantage of these if you are eligible or pass this along to friends or family who are impacted. Please note that my mention of these resources is not an endorsement of any of them - UAEA is not affiliated with these organizations and cannot speak to their respective quality or offerings.
AZ Food Bank Network: This link contains information about dozens of food banks and assistance sites across Arizona. You can search by the directory and the zipcodes they provide services for to find food banks in your areas.
AZ Medical and Nutrition Assistance: This is an Arizona-State run program that can help connect people with Arizona State programs that provide assistance for people who need medical coverage or access. I do not know all that the program entails.
Maricopa County Utility Support: This is a Maricopa County program that can help people receive assistance paying for utilities. Some cities have unique offerings while others are covered under one umbrella program.
AZ 211: This is a Arizona-State run help line that can help people connect with a variety of resources and support they may be unaware of in their area.
Salvation Army Christmas Assistance: This link allows people to sign up if they need help providing Christmas presents for their children.
Tempe Employee Relief Fund: This is a Tempe-run program (paid for by employee donations) that can provide support of up to $1,200 to assist Tempe employees with unplanned emergency bills (housing, mortgage, utilities, etc).
Aldi Thanksgiving: Aldi locations have cut prices to offer a $40 Thanksgiving deal that includes basically everything someone needs to host a traditional Thanksgiving meal for 10 people. I know Thanksgiving is an important holiday for many members - check this out if money is tight.
SNAP Discounts: The Arizona Secretary of State is tracking businesses who are offering free meals to people impacted by SNAP cuts or opportunities to support the community. I also found a list of discounts that SNAP participants are eligible for, including deals on phone plans and legal services.
Employee Development Survey: I’ve been working with Employee Development to identify some barriers employees face when trying to attend their classes. We have a little data but could use more to help us make fewer assumptions about employee behavior. We’re both very interested in ensuring that all employees, regardless of workgroup, work location, or work schedule, have access to at least 10 hours of professional development training each year if they want to take advantage of it. I’ve attached an anonymous survey that members can fill out - it should only take about 5 minutes and the information we get will be used to improve training access.
November Meeting RSVP: Our final member’s meeting of 2025 will be held on November 20th at the Apache PD substation from 5-6pm. Please rsvp here by November 13th at 5pm.
Employee of the Quarter: Our next round of Employee of the Quarter closes on December 1st (finalists will be announced in our January newsletter). If you would like to be considered (or would like to nominate a peer), please fill out the application (it takes 5 minutes) before the end of day on December 1st. The UAEA Board had a nice selection of candidates to choose from for Q4 - we’d love to see even more nominations to start off 2026. If you would like a refresher on program rules, check out this blog post.
Adopt a Path: UAEA will be cleaning up our Adopt-a-Path trail on this Saturday, November 8th, We meet in the Tempe Parking Lot on the southeast Corner of Curry and Miller (approximate address is 1325 E Curry Road, Tempe AZ 85281, see attached photo), then walk north up our path to Mckellips Rd. Breakfast, drinks, safety gloves, trash pickers, and trash bags will be provided. Please bring a hat and/or sunglasses. This event normally takes 1.5 hours to complete, is eligible for community wellness points (I’ll also sign children and teen’s volunteer forms if you need volunteer hours), and is a great opportunity to meet members of the board and your fellow union members. If you’d like to attend, please sign up here by tonight at 5PM.