HomeMy WebLinkAboutRetirement Committee - Minutes - 02/01/2001City of Fort Collins
Retirement Plan
FORT COLLINS GENERAL EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT COMMITTEE
FEBRUARY 1, 2001, MEETING MINUTES
COUNCIL LIAISON: Mayor Ray Martinez
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
PRESENT: Terry VanCleave, 221-6321
Bill Switzer, 221-6713
Susan Lehman, 221-6813
Alan Krcmarik, 221-6788
Dottie Nazarenus, 204-4429
Approved, as amended, on March 1, 2001
ABSENT: Michele Hays -Johnson, 416-2158
OTHERS Julie Depperman (Finance) Greg Tempel (Legal)
PRESENT: Deb Weedman (Human Resources) Sue Wilcox (Finance)
Vincent Pascale (Human Resources) Nancy Wagner, Milliman &
Robertson (Plan actuary)
CALL TO ORDER: Chair Susan Lehman called the meeting to order at 1:20 PM
ITEMS OF NOTE: At the beginning of the meeting, four members were present, constituting a
quorum. Susan said Dottie Nazarenus would be arriving late. Terry VanCleave noted Michele
Hays -Johnson was attending a job -related training session. Terry also said that he would have to
leave at 2:40 PM for another commitment. In addition, Bill Switzer said he would be leaving at 2
PM for another commitment.
PLAN MEMBER COMMENTS: None.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Alan Krcmarik circulated the January 11, 2001, draft meeting minutes.
Terry moved the minutes be approved as drafted and Bill seconded the motion. The Committee
approved the motion unanimously (4-0).
DISCUSSION TOPICS
1. DISCUSSION OF RETIREMENT PHILOSOPHY
MAIN POINTS: Bill asked when amendments are made to the Plan, is there a policy on whether
the enhanced benefit is only for the active members or also applies to retirees and previously
terminated members. The Committee has recently been discussing Plan changes that would only
apply to current employees and not be retroactive to retirees or deferred vested members. The
most recent benefit change for retirees was the cost of living adjustment (COLA) enacted about a
year ago.
Filename: GmuiFeb12001F.doc
300 LaPorte A% enue • P.O. Box 580 • Fort Collins, CO 80322-0580 • (970) 221-6788 • FAX (970) 221-6782
General Emp' ,ees' Retirement Committee
Feb. 4 1, 2001, Meeting Minutes
Page 2 of 4
Julie Depperman said this question has arisen in relation to the vesting schedule. The provisions
of the Plan in effect at the time of a member's termination govern a Plan member's vesting. Thus,
a deferred vested member who left the Plan several years ago with six years of service would only
be partially vested under the Plan in effect when they left the Plan. A member leaving the Plan now
with six years of service would be 100% vested.
Susan asked if the retirement philosophy should contain documentation regarding the application of
Plan changes.
CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS: Greg Tempel advised there is no legal requirement that any
new Plan provisions be made retroactive. When the Committee and Council change the Plan, they
should clearly indicate who is affected. Nancy Wagner, Plan Actuary from Milliman & Robertson
(Milliman), noted as the membership in the Plan moves to a higher percentage of retirees, the
philosophy may change. The Committee agreed to keep this item on the agenda for possible
discussion.
2. ACTUARIAL VALUATION REPORT PROGRESS
MAIN POINTS: Nancy reported Milliman has been gathering information for the annual valuation,
including: a list of current retirees as of 12/31/00 and the monthly benefits they are receiving; Plan
member activity during 2000 (for example, terminations, deaths, new retirees, lump -sum
payments); a list of new vested members; and other information.
CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS: Julie Depperman will meet with Nancy after the meeting to
provide some of this information. Deb Weedman said that she is preparing a list of current
members and will e-mail it to Nancy on February 2. Nancy said she expects to have some
preliminary figures for the Committee at the March meeting.
3. DISCUSSION OF PERSONAL RETIREMENT PLANNING STATEMENTS
MAIN POINTS: Each year, the Committee has requested that the actuary prepare Personal
Retirement Planning Statements (PRPS) for active participants. The statements include
information about the participant's projected Plan benefit, Social Security benefit, and applicable
401(a) or 457 plans. The Committee reviewed last year's form and suggested clarifications.
CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS: Nancy will make the suggested changes and bring the
revised draft to the March meeting. She will also contact ICMA Retirement Corporation to obtain
401(a) money purchase plan and 457 deferred compensation data. Sue will order Plan letterhead
for Milliman. She will print pages 3 and 4 from originals Milliman will supply. Milliman will send the
statements to Finance by March 16 for distribution with the paychecks on March 24.
Bill had left at 2 PM and Terry left at 2:40 PM, leaving only three members present and without a
quorum to conduct business. The remaining Committee members continued to discuss the
remaining agenda items without acting on any of the remaining items.
Gener"mployees' Retirement Committee
bruary 1, 2001, Meeting Minutes
Page 3 of 4
4. RESULTS SURVEY OF PART-TIME SERVICE
MAIN POINTS: Alan reported that about 265 of the 400 part-time survey forms were returned by
Plan members. Almost 30% recorded special conditions that will require further research. This is
considerably higher than the 10% special conditions estimated before the survey.
Alan suggested the Committee defer discussion about the change in calculating part time service
credit (the next item on the agenda) because only three Committee members were present. Dottie
asked how the benefit calculation would change using the formula proposed by Watson Wyatt.
Alan explained that if a person always worked full-time, the benefit remained the same. When staff
applied the proposed change to some employees, it inflated the benefit for some part-time
employees much higher than their contribution. Alan offered to meet with a few of the Committee
members to illustrate the problem. Greg advised that any meeting of three or more members
would be an official special meeting or work -session and would be open to the public. Twenty-four
(24) hours public notice would be required if a quorum met. Alan offered to meet with Committee
members on an individual basis.
CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS: The Committee members present did not schedule any
special meetings.
5. 2000 YEAR-END INVESTMENT REPORT
MAIN POINTS: Julie reported while it was not a stellar year for the stock market, the government
bonds did what they were supposed to do: provide a safe, steady return that helped offset losses
in the stock market. The fixed income portion of the portfolio provided a 6.64% return, which was
50 basis points more than the 5-year Treasury Note benchmark. This helped offset the 7.08%
decline in the domestic mutual fund portion of the portfolio. For comparison, the benchmark for the
domestic mutual funds, Standard & Poor's 500 Index, declined 10.14%. The International mutual
funds, which comprise 16% of the portfolio, saw the sharpest decline at 14.63%. The total market
value of the cash and investments at year-end was $ 33,890,307, which was a decrease of $1.1
million. The asset allocation target remains at 45% for domestic equities, 15% for foreign equities,
and 40% fixed income, with a variance of ten percent allowed. The current allocation, 44% in
domestic equities, 16% in foreign equities, and 40% in fixed assets, matches almost perfectly.
The investment results for 2000 may seem disheartening. However, when viewed from a longer -
term perspective, the Plans investments have grown by 18% in the last five years. Some of the
funds held by the Plan have been upgraded from three to four stars or from four to five stars as a
measure of their returns. T. Rowe Price New Asia Fund declined by 30.79% this year after rising
nearly 100% in 1999. Morningstar (an investment research and analysis firm) analysts suggest
that Japan and the Pacific Rim investments will out -perform other investment categories this year.
CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS: Members may contact the Finance Department to obtain a
copy of the final 2000 Year -End Report.
General Empl—lees' Retirement Committee
Feb, .y 1, 2001, Meeting Minutes
Page 4 of 4
6. SCHEDULE FOR NEXT REGULAR MEETING
The next regular meeting will be February 1, 2001, at 1:15 PM in the Council Information Center
(CIC) of City Hall. The tentative agenda includes:
1. Citizen Participation and Plan Member Comments
2. Consider approving the February 1, 2001, Minutes
3. Discussion of Retirement Philosophy
4. Review Drafts of Selected Portions of Valuation Report
5. Review Draft of Personal Retirement Planning Statement Form
6. Discussion of Alternative Methods of Calculating Retirement Benefit
7. Monthly Investment Update
8. Other Business
ADJOURNMENT: Susan adjourned the meeting at 3:00 PM.
GENERAL EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT PLAN AND COMMITTEE WEB PAGE ADDRESS:
http://www.ci.fort-collins.co.us/CITY HALL/BOARDS COMMISSIONS/RETIREMENT/index.htm
FUTURE MEETING SCHEDULE:
The regular meeting time for the Committee is at 1:15 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month.
The regular location is the Council Information Center, City Hall. The next scheduled meeting will
be Thursday, March 1, 2001, at 1:15 PM. The Committee has scheduled meetings for 2001 as
shown below:
2001 CALENDAR
THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2001
THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2001
THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2001
THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2001
THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2001
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2001
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2001
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2001
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2001