Schuylkill County retirees on Wednesday once again asked commissioners for a small cost-of-living increase, and once again, they were denied.

Minority Commissioner Gary J. Hess moved to grant the 0.03 percent pension increase, but it died for lack of support when Commissioner Frank J. Staudenmeier and Chairman George F. Halcovage Jr. remained silent.Retirees, whose last increase was in 2007, have been asking since January. Commissioners have turned them down several times, most recently in May."We're sorely disappointed, but we'll never give up," Joan Dietrich, president of the Schuylkill County Retirees Association, said after the meeting.Halcovage has said the spiraling cost of providing health benefits to retirees who retired before 2004 and receive lifetime benefits.The health benefits are paid through the county's general fund, said Finance Director Paul E. Buber.Human Resources Director Martina A. Chwastiak provided figures. Last year, the county spent a total of $5,651,314 for retirees' health benefits.That includes prescriptions and Medicare Part B reimbursements, she said.Before Hess made his motion, Dietrich, reading from a prepared statement, listed several previous reasons commissioners have given for denying the pension increase.They included the 2008 market downturn and that the county would have to make the increase retroactive to 2007.The market has recovered, Dietrich said. The retirement fund stood at $132,162,386 as of Wednesday morning.The pension increase would cost $182,000, she said. There are about 500 retirees, but not all would qualify for the increase, Dietrich said.Further, the state Legislature has since passed a bill relieving counties from having to make cost-of-living increases retroactive.Dietrich said each retiree paid a mandatory 8 percent into their retirement funds, some from as long as 40 years."It is not unfathomable that retirees would like to see a return on their investment," she said.Until 2008, the county gave its retirees cost-of-living increases "in good times and bad," Dietrich said.Now, the retirement fund is in good shape, she said."However, our retirees have seen their buying power being whittled away, some just getting by with help from family or by taking on a job in their aging years," she said."We need you to see that some of our retirees are struggling, especially those whose pensions are below the poverty level," Dietrich said. "We know this COLA would not enable the retirees to go on vacation or buy a new car, but it may enable them to buy an extra quart of milk or loaf of bread."