How much would it cost to reverse the 2011 pension overhaul? There's a hefty price tag.

PROVIDENCE – For many of Rhode Island's retired teachers and state workers, the choice is simple – restore everything they lost in the cost-cutting, Raimondo-era pension overhaul, no matter the cost.

But at their next to last meeting, the "Pension Advisory Working Group" assembled by state Treasurer James Diossa got a gander at what it might actually cost – at the potential expense of many other high-priority items in the state budget.

How much would restoring COLAs cost for state pensioners?

The taxpayer cost of resuming the payment of annual cost of living adjustments − aka COLAs - ranged from $53.3 million up to $169.2 million a year, on top of the $544.3 million in state and local dollars already required.

And those dollar amounts do not include the potential state and local cost of rejiggering the retirement rules for current state workers and teachers, who have had to work longer and for a smaller pension check since state lawmakers took dramatic steps in 2011 to rein in the state's skyrocketing pension costs.

Boost for state pensioners: But it's not as much as they want

Rhode Island's lead pension consultant – Joseph Newton of Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Co. – laid out the potential costs of multiple options during a meeting of the advisory group last week.

Retirees still demand immediate COLA restoration

The retirees aligned with the Facebook group known as the "Advocates for COLA Restoration and Pension Reform" didn't waver.

They demanded "immediate reinstatement of [an] annual 3% compounded cost-of-living allowance for all retirees regardless of retirement date," using whatever steps are necessary to pay for it, including the issuance of a "pension obligation bond."

"My take on the presentation centered around the fact that Mr. Newton seems to be focusing on presenting reasons why the suggested options WON'T WORK," wrote retiree activist Sandra Paquette, a candidate for a seat on the state Retirement Board. "I would strongly prefer that the emphasis be placed on the options that would MAKE IT WORK!"

Patrick Crowley, the secretary-treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO – who has a seat on the advisory group – said: “Our members are still reviewing and discussing the information but there appear to be several options that are within grasp given Rhode Island’s budgetary constraints. " He did not elaborate.

What are some options?

On the COLA front, Newton pegged the annual cost of resuming the annual payment of 3% compounded increases on the first $30,000 or so of a retiree's benefit at $75 million, including $47.8 million in state dollars and $27.2 million in local dollars for their teachers' pensions.

The price tag drops a bit to $53.3 million without the compounding, meaning: a 3% increase on a hypothetical $1,000 a month pension would grow by the same amount – $30 – each year, instead of building on the last increase.

The cost would more than double to $169.2 million if the advisory group – and ultimately, the state's legislators – decide to pay all future COLAs on top of the amount each of today's retired public employees would be receiving but for the 2011 moves that effectively froze their pensions for more than a decade.

Newton's analysis looked at many other potential scenarios, including the reinstatement of COLAs but only for those who retired with certain financial expectations before the axe actually dropped on July 1, 2012; a one-time 2% or 3% boost with no future promises; and a rejiggering of the current requirements for full reinstatement of COLAs from 80% to 75% of all pension obligations on hand.

The latter would only cost $5.4 million, but it would only move the return-date up a year, from 2030 to 2029.

Deeper into Newton's analysis are cost projections to let police officers and firefighters – who go out with less than 25 years on the job – retire before they reach "Social Security" retirement age, without any limitations on how long they can return to work without forfeiting their pensions.

And for the retirement package available to current day public employees, he plugged in other potential variables, including a reduced "early retirement" penalty ($12.1 million); an increase in employer, aka taxpayer, contributions ($19.1 million) to the state's equivalent of a 401k retirement savings plan; and the reinstatement of age 60 as the minimum retirement age ($12.1 million).

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Is it time to reverse RI's 2011 pension reform? It comes with a big price tag.