City retiree benefits: health care and life insurance after work ends

Key facts

• Health plan: retirees may stay on city health, dental and vision until Medicare, and pay the full cost¹
• Life insurance: $7,500 for each retiree¹
• What both cost over time, our estimate: about $1.23 million (our math)¹
• Money set aside: none in a trust for the health plan¹

In short

Besides a pension, the city offers retired workers two more benefits.¹ They can stay on the city’s health plan until Medicare, but they pay the full price.¹ Each retiree also has $7,500 of life insurance.¹ Our estimate of what both cost over time is about $1.2 million.¹

How it works

• Health plan. Workers who retire from the city can stay on its plan until they can get Medicare. They must be age 60 with 5 years of service, or have 20 years of service.¹
• Retirees pay it all. Since 2016, retirees pay the full price. Before that, the city paid part.¹
• Life insurance. The state city retirement system runs it. Retirees are covered for $7,500.¹

The numbers (FY2025)

	Amount
Health plan, may cost over time (Sept. 30, 2025)	$635,402
Life insurance, may cost over time (Dec. 31, 2024)	$598,962
Both together (our math)	$1,234,364
City payments to the health plan this year	$0

Source: city audited report, Note 9.¹

Numbers marked “our math” are our estimates, not official figures. The notes show the inputs and the steps.

The other side

• These are estimates, not bills. If health costs grow 1 point faster, the health plan figure rises to about $747,000. If slower, about $543,000.¹
• The amounts are small. The city’s pension gap is about $9.0 million. See the city retirement plan page.
• The council can change these. The city chose them by policy and ordinance.¹

Questions to ask

• How many retirees use the city health plan now?
• Where does the city post the retiree plan’s terms?

What you can do

• Read Note 9 in the city’s audited report.

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: Removed a size comparison we had not backed up, and plainer wording about the cost estimate.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.

What we still don’t know

• How many retirees use the health plan now. The audit lists only 427 active workers covered.

Footnotes

1. City of Leander, FY2025 Annual Financial Report, Note 9 (Post Employee Benefits Other Than Pensions): TMRS Supplemental Death Benefits Fund ($7,500 retiree coverage, total OPEB liability $598,962 at Dec. 31, 2024) and Retiree Health Care Plan (eligibility, 2016 amendment, zero city contributions, 427 covered, total OPEB liability $635,402, trend sensitivity $543,254 to $747,383). Our math: $598,962 + $635,402 = $1,234,364, which matches the report’s government-wide total OPEB liability. https://emma.msrb.org/P11938164.pdf ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴