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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRetirement Committee - Minutes - 06/04/1998Retirement Plan City of Fort Collins FORT COLLINS GENERAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT COMlMME June 4, 1998 MEETING MINUTES COUNCIL LIAISON: Mayor Ann Azari COMIIIITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Jun Hume, 221-6776 Dave Agee, 221-6681 Alan Krcmarik, 221-6788 Kevin Westhuis, 224-6156 Patti Teraoka, 221-6715 OTHERS PRESENT: Russ Proctor, Watson Wyatt Worldwide, the City s actuarial firm Laurie Harvey (Staff Support - Human Resources) Greg Tempel (Staff Support - Legal) Bob Eichem (Staff Support - Investments) Sue Wilcox (Staff Support - Secretary) Bruce Michael, Plan Member CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Kevin Westhuis called the meeting to order at 1:23 p.m. in the Council Information Center of City Hall West ITEMS OF NOTE: Kevin noted that City Council had approved on final reading the Plan change that would allow for lump -sum payments to deferred vested members after they reach retirement age. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the May 7'" meeting were presented. It was clarified that although the minutes correctly reflect that the remainder of the May 7`s agenda was deferred to the May 21' meeting. It was later decided that the May 214 meeting should deal solely with the information for the DB/DC presentations, so the other agenda items will be considered at today's meeting. Patti Teraoka moved that the minutes for May 7`h be approved as submitted and Jim Hume seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. ADDITIONS TO AGENDA: Three items were added to Agenda item #4: 1) Drafting a letter to deferred vested employees who no longer actively participate in the Plan, but who have a vested benefit that is deferred until they reach retirement age, 2) A letter from Debra Passariello requesting a change in her credited service; and 3) How the questions submitted through Voicemail, Groupwise, and the Hotline regarding the DB/DC choice will be answered and distributed. 300 LaPorte Avenue • P.O. Box 580 • Fort Collins, CO 80522-0580 • (970) 221-6788 • FAX (970) 221-6782 GERC Minutes - June 4, 1: _ J DISCUSSION TOPICS: 1. GER PLAN MEMBER(S) COMMENTS/CITIZEN PARTICIPATION: There were no comments at this meeting. 2. BRUCE MICHAEL'S REQUEST TO BEGIN RECEIVING RETIREMENT BENEFITS MAIN POINTS: Laurie Harvey introduced Mr. Bruce Michael and explained that he had been injured on the job in May, 1995. Since that time he had been declared totally disabled and received a lump -sum benefit from Workers Compensation. According to the Plan, since he was disabled he continued to earn service credit (equivalent to the amount of time he would have received if receiving ongoing Workers Compensation benefits) towards his GERP benefit. He requested to begin receiving his retirement benefit in October, 1998 when he turns 55. At this point Kevin Westhuis moved that the GERC convene an executive session in order to gather further information and potentially receive legal advice, and Dave Agee seconded the motion. After reviewing the executive session section of the Plan, Greg Tempel advised that the discussion of an application for retirement benefits qualifies for an executive session and that a quorum of GERC members was present. The vote was unanimous in favor of the executive session, which was then convened. At the conclusion of the executive session, Kevin moved to return to open session and Patti Teraoka seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The GERC returned to open session. CONCLUSIONS/NEXT STEPS It was agreed that Greg and Laurie would research this issue and a recent GERC decision that may be related and would make a recommendation to the GERC at the July 9`" meeting. 3. LETTERS TO DEFERRED VESTED EMPLOYEES REGARDING PLAN CHANGE MAIN POINTS: Kevin advised the Committee that deferred vested Plan members (employees or former employees who have earned a retirement benefit, but for whom no contributions are currently being made to the Plan) should receive a letter from the Committee describing the recent Council -approved Plan change. This change allows for single -sum payments when the individual terminates employment. Greg Tempel distributed copies of signed Resolution #98-86 amending the Plan. There was discussion of the options available to those who are eligible for this benefit. The mandatory 20% withholding for income tax was noted, as well as possible tax penalties for those who are not yet 59-1/2 years old, if a distribution is not rolled directly into a tax -qualified plan. Several questions were noted: Would ICMA allow these funds to be rolled over to the current 401(a) MPP and can the individual choose to roll over part of the retirement benefit and also receive part of it as a lump -sum? CONCLUSION/NEXT STEPS: Kevin will check with Andy Ahrens of ICMA Retirement Corporation about the questions and will draft a letter to deferred vested members for review by GERC Minutes - June* 998 0 the GERC. Sue Wilcox will provide Kevin with a copy of a letter used for those who currently are eligible for lump -sum payments and which may be revised for this situation. 4. REQUEST FOR CHANGE IN CREDITED SERVICE MAIN POINTS: Deferred vested member Debra Passariello submitted a request to the GER Committee for inclusion of time worked in an hourly position as credited service towards her vested benefit. Greg Tempel quoted Article XI, Sections 2 and 3 of the Plan, which specifically addresses the GERC determining credited service. Two points were noted: the vesting schedule was made less restrictive soon after Ms Passariello left the Plan, and the additional employment did not qualify as "covered employment". CONCLUSION/NEXT STEPS: The Plan may not offer enough flexibility to allow the GERC to grant Ms. Passariello's request. The Committee will consider this issue at the July 9'h meeting and Greg will draft a reply. 5. RESPONSES TO DB/DC QUESTIONS MAIN POINTS: Many questions are being generated by the presentations and the infortnation provided for the members. Russ Proctor has the program that creates the calculations for the DB/DC transfers which he will duplicate so that Laurie, Bob Eichem, and Kevin can run those projections with other variables. A message will be sent to all members outlining who can provide the projections, when they will be able to do it, and their phone numbers, noting that the individual needs to bring the calculation originally provided at the presentations. Copies of all hypothetical calculations should be kept by the GERC representatives running them. Patti volunteered to monitor the question phone line (Hotline 224-6000, ext. 1050). She will take the questions from the Hotline and distribute them to the appropriate person for reply. She will also see that the replies are given to the callers. Jim Hume agreed to monitor the Groupwise email questions. Jim asked that he be proxied on the email questions and if the replies are sent to him, he can coordinate those that could be added to the FAQ list. Russ will provide a disk which contains the FAQs already completed. It was noted that the electronic message with the FAQs should also list the schedule of remaining information sessions and urge that members attend. The FAQs should be sent electronically and in hard copy, as not everyone has access to email. Russ Proctor and Jeff Kraft are still offering one-on-one sessions before and after the general sessions. Laurie advised that Andy Ahrens of ICMA Retirement Corporation is also making himself available in the Human Resources Office and she will provide a schedule of his future visits. There was discussion of providing a financial planner for members much like Human Resources does during the benefit selection period and for previous early -out opportunities. Jim Hume advised that there probably needs to be some sort of selection process for this firm or individual, rather than just providing a name or names more or less at random. Those who received flyers from the Edward D. Jones representatives at one of the information sessions, will be notified that the meetings were canceled. GERC Minutes - June 4, 1: _ 6 CONCLUSION/NEXT STEPS: It was agreed to try and have the questions answered and distributed by Friday, June 12'". 6. INFORMATION SESSIONS MAIN POINTS: The Committee discussed how to distribute the information packets at the information sessions and some changes will be made at the next sessions. Kevin will make sure enough people are available to help at the remaining sessions. The calculations were done using the salary figures as of 1/31/98. This date may have influenced the calculations for the following situations: employees who had pay differentials in January, 1998, individuals who moved from full time to part time positions in January, 1998, employees whose work hours were reduced, and those who received a pay increase after that date. It was agreed that no matter what date is chosen, there will always be individual situations where whatever date is chosen will benefit some and adversely affect others. It was agreed that there are too many variables to warrant making exceptions and changes for some individuals. Kevin would like a list of those who have not attended any of the sessions so he could send them a reminder. Since current attendance figures are a -little over 300, that would leave about 500+ members to contact. It was agreed that general information notices would probably be sufficient to reach all those who have not attended a session. Laurie has received a lot of comments from employees who feel that the outcome of the Classification and Pay Plan study will affect how they will vote on the DC/DB question. Unfortunately, the results of the study will not be known until after the July 31 selection deadline. There is a great deal of apprehension, especially among those who think their pay may be frozen. Although there is no connection between the two issues, the GERC members understand how they are connected in employees' minds. There was discussion of postponing the deadline for the selection decision to let employees consider the results of City Council's actions on the Classification Study. There was discussion of individuals who are hired during the latter part of 1997 and during 1998, or who move to covered employment during 1998. This may require a separate meeting in 1999. These individuals may attend any of the current information sessions, but no calculations will be available for them. , CONCLUSION/NEXT STEPS: Greg cautioned the members that all promises made now must become part of the GER Plan amendments (assuming the conversion plan is approved). It was concluded that no one will get less than the current benefit they have accrued in the GERP and the transfer amount will never be less than the GERP lump -sum. There are some calculations which show the lump -sum less than the transfer amount. Russ will get a list of these to Laurie, who will review them and follow up as needed. Laurie has also scheduled some special presentations at Transfort on Thursday, June 25'h at 10:30 am and 1:15 pm, as many of the drivers are unable to attend the regular sessions. GERC Minutes - Jun*1998 7.OTHER BUSINESS MAIN POINTS: Other commitments for several members required that the meeting be adjourned. The remaining agenda items (5 through 9) will be deferred to the July 9d' meeting with the following exceptions: 1) Kevin will contact Russ Proctor regarding Joyce Clifton's request for a rollover to her current employer's retirement plan. 2) Russ reported that Watson Wyatt had sent Jim O'Neil, Director of Purchasing, a letter outlining the reasons for the fee increases for their services. Jim Hume will follow up on that letter. 3) Bob Eichem distributed a one -page outline of the May 31" status of investments. The year- to-date total shows an increase of 8.83%. CONCLUSION/NEXT STEPS: Agenda items will be moved to the July 9t° meeting agenda. AGENDA & SCHEDULE FOR NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting will be Thursday, July 9th at 1:15 p.m. in the Council Information Center (CIC) of City Hall West. The agenda will include: 1. Plan Member Comments/Citizen Participation 2. Update of DC/DB Program activities 3. QDROs procedure and forms finalized 4. Joyce Clifton rollover response 5. YAW W contract discussion 6. Use of year-end pay rates on PRPS 7. Varying future GERC meeting sites 8. Regular Investment Review 9. Other Business ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 3:30.m. GERC/GERP WEB PAGE ADDRESS: www.ci.fort-coUins.co.us/CITY_HALL/BOARDS_CON MISSIONSIRETIREMENTfmdex.htm FUTURE MEETING SCHEDULE: The General Employees Retirement Committee normally meets at 1:15 p.m. on the 1st Thursday of each month in the Council Information Center, City Hall West. THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1998**(moved from July 2nd) THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 1998 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1998 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1998 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1998 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1998