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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRetirement Committee - Minutes - 06/28/1990! a K L, FORT COLLINS GENERAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES JUNE 28, 1990, 1:00 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT: Jerry Brown Angelina Powell Dennis Sumner Sue Wilcox, Secretary Also present was the Committee's legal Mares, head of Employee Development; address the Committee. MEMBERS ABSENT: Mollie Mercer Alan Krcmarik counsel, Mary Crumbaker/Smith; Jaime and John Lamprey, who wished to CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Dennis Sumner called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. in the Finance Conference Room. It was determined that the three members present did constitute a quorum. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the May 10, 1990 meeting were amended to read that Dennis Freeburg "would become eligible to receive retirement benefits in June". Angelina Power moved and Jerry Brown seconded the motion to approve the minutes and they were approved as corrected. ITEMS OF NOTE: Mollie Mercer was reappointed by City Council to continue serving on the General Employees Retirement Committee. Her term will expire July 1, 1994. She is absent today due to a personal obligation. Alan is attending a symposium in Denver. ; Jerry Brown noted that his title is Assistant to the Director of Cultural, Library, and Recreation Services (CLRS). AGENDA REVIEW: The agenda was reviewed and because the visitors had other commitments, some items were considered out of their scheduled order. Also several items were added. It was noted that the first quarter investment report for 1990 will be reviewed at the July 12th class with Bob Eichem, Treasury Administrator. DISCUSSION TOPICS - OPEN ITEMS 1. JOHN LAMPREY'S REQUEST MAIN POINTS: The Chairperson reviewed the previous minutes on this topic. Noting there were some legal questions on this, he also reviewed the open meetings guidelines set by City Code. Mary Crumbaker/Smith reviewed the standard operating procedures for calling an executive session of the Committee. John Lamprey read a copy of his letter to Jaime Mares, asking that the 75-day gap between his termination and the commencement of the long-term disability coverage not be considered a break in service for eligibility for the General Employees Retirement benefits. At this point Angelina Powell moved and Jerry Brown seconded a motion to move to a closed session to discuss the matter. The motion carried and Mr. Lamprey was excused. Following the Executive Session, Mr. Lamprey was invited to return, which he did. Chairperson Sumner commented that the clarification that Mr. Lamprey had requested is one that is usually made at the time he would apply for retirement benefits, but the Committee could understand his wish to have it clarified now. Mr. Lamprey left the meeting after the vote was taken. DECISIONS/CONCLUSIONS: Angelina Powell moved and Jerry Brown seconded a motion that the 75-day gap between John's termination from City employment and the granting of coverage by Workers Compensation not be considered a break in service and service credits would continue to accrue towards his General Employees Pension, since he was considered to be disabled and was receiving coverage for long-term disability. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion. NEXT STEPS: The secretary will send copies of these meeting minutes when they are finalized, to John Lamprey and his attorney, Lynn Beardsley, First Tower, 5th Floor. 2. DENNIS FREEBURG'S REQUEST MAIN POINTS: Dennis Freeburg had requested that his common-law wife, Dewana Beltz, be made his beneficiary when he begins receiving retirement benefits this summer. Since a common-law spouse was not recognized as a beneficiary in the plan at the time of this request, there was a question as to the status of the marriage. Mollie Mercer and Mary Crumbaker/Smith,' with review by Committee members, revised a form used by Employee Development to establish a common-law marriage. Mr. Freeburg and Ms. Beltz signed the document and submitted the required forms confirming their divorces from previous spouses. DECISIONS/CONCLUSIONS: Jerry Brown moved and Angelina Powell seconded a motion to accept the common-law affidavit form as verification of marriage. The motion was approved. It was noted that Resolution 90-40, which expands the definition of beneficiary to include non -related persons, would make future actions like this unnecessary. NEXT STEPS: The secretary will proceed with the normal process of completing Mr. Freeburg's application for retirement benefits. PLAN CHANGES PROPOSED TO CITY COUNCIL FOR ADOPTION. MAIN POINTS: The changes to the General Employees Retirement Plan which the Committee had formulated and proposed were presented to City Council and approved by the consent agenda process on June 5, 1990. All Committee members (except Dennis Sumner, who was on vacation) attended the Council meeting. Mollie Mercer prepared an announcement of the changes for publication in Fort Notes and copies were distributed. 0 ! DECISIONS/CONCLUSIONS: Don Mazanec will be contacted about providing copies of the updated/restated plan for the Committee members. Also, letters need to be sent to retirees explaining the cost -living increase. NEXT STEPS: Sue Wilcox will contact Don Mazanec about copies of the new plan. The letter to the retirees be prepared by the Director of Finance to be sent to the retirees explaining the change and the cost -of -living increase. DISCUSSION TOPICS - NEW ITEMS 1. BENEFIT COMMENCEMENT DATE INTERPRETATION MAIN POINTS: The City's practice is to write payroll checks and retirement benefit checks in arrears (i.e. after the month or pay period has been worked), while the retirement plan states that retirement benefits will begin on the first day of the month. Sue distributed correspondence between Mollie Mercer and Don Mazanec about this contradiction. DECISIONS/CONCLUSIONS: It was the decision of the group to postpone consideration of this topic until Mollie and Alan can be present to participate in the discussion. NEXT STEPS: Alan was requested to provide information on why the method proscribed in the Plan was not followed. 3. STATUS OF TOTAL COMPENSATION STUDY MAIN POINTS: Jaime reported that the Guidance Team for the Total Compensation Study has been looking at the value of all benefits as a unit, rather than comparing like benefits (I;e. leave time to leave time, medical` benefits to medical benefits, etc.). The reason for this is that there is so much variation in the types of benefits offered and so little similarity even within a benefit type, that it would be almost impossible to compare them individually. The goal is to find a long-term method for dealing with total compensation. Jaime hopes to discuss this with City Council and get final direction by September. DECISIONS/CONCLUSIONS: The members asked Jaime to keep the GERC informed of the progress of this issue. NEXT STEPS: Jaime will endeavor to keep the members informed of the group's activities. inleftO 3. OPEN MEETINGS REQUIREMENTS MAIN POINTS: Mary Crumbaker/Smith distributed copies of a memorandum from Steve Roy, City Attorney, which outlines the requirements for open meetings which now extend to all boards and commissions. She explained the instances in which a meeting may be closed and the process for doing so. The parameters for the GERC to go to a closed meeting are a little broader than many boards and commissions because it does deal with personnel and medical matters and it may be necessary to receive clarification from legal counsel from time to time. There needs to be a motion and a vote to close a meeting, but no vote is required to return to an open meeting. No vote or official action can be taken during an executive session. DECISIONS/CONCLUSIONS: The group began abiding by the executive session guidelines during this meeting. NEXT STEPS: Continue to follow procedures as outlined in the memo. 4. SPOUSAL CONSENT FORMS MAIN POINTS: Mollie Mercer submitted some information before the meeting and she raised the questions of whether we had a spousal consent form and what it should include. DECISIONS/CONCLUSIONS: Because Mollie was not able to be present, this item was deferred to the next meeting. It was agreed to alert Mary Crumbaker/Smith that we would be looking at this issue. NEXT STEPS: Mollie will be asked to communicate with Mary C/S about this issue before the next quarterly meeting. ITEMS FOR FUTURE DISCUSSION 1. Pension Investment Seminar/public benefit plans workshops. Seminars currently available deal primarily with the hands-on practice of paying_ retirement benefits rather than trends or comparisons of retirement plans. 2. Evaluation of plan based on Total Comp Study. This is on hold until the study is completed/adopted. 3. Defined benefit study: Also deferred until the Total Comp Study is completed. 4. Investment Market Class: To be held July 12th at 1:00 p.m. in the Finance Conference Room. AGENDA AND SCHEDULE FOR NEXT MEETINGS 1. July 12, 1:00 p.m. Finance Conference Room: Investment Market Class presented by Bob Eichem, Treasury Administrator. To include the First Quarter, 1990 Investment Report. 2. REGULAR AUGUST 16TH MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELED. That meeting will be held September 13th at 1:00 p.m. in the Finance Conference Room. (Alternate date is September 20, same time and place.) AGENDA: 1. Benefit Commencement Interpretation. 2. Spousal Consent Form 3. Total Comp Conclusion in relation to GERP 4. Defined Benefit Study ADJOURN: The meeting was adjourned at 3:15 p.m. MINUTES OF EXECUTIVE SESSION • GENERAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT COMMITTEE MEETING DUNE 28, 1990 Present in the Finance Conference Room were General Employees Retirement Committee Chairperson Dennis Sumner; members Angelina Powell and Jerry Brown; Sue Wilcox, Committee secretary; Mary Crumbaker/Smith of the City Attorney's Office; and Jaime Mares, Employee Development Director. Mary Crumbaker/Smith and Jaime Mares were asked to join the GERC in this executive session to offer their comments. This executive session was called to discuss the request of John Lamprey that the 75-day gap between his termination from the City of Fort Collins and his commencement of long-term disability benefits not be considered a break in service. Mary C/S advised that the Committee did have the authority to answer his request and reviewed the questions about this topic which were raised at the last meeting. She advised that John Lamprey was terminated for disability reasons and he then was accepted by the City's long-term disability coverage. It was her opinion that the details of the 75 days not covered by Workers Compensation were not germane to the GERC decision. As long as John was on long-term disability, there is no break in service and he will continue to receive service credits. • Mary suggested we send him a copy of the GERC minutes as confirmation of the Committee's conclusion. The group expressed their appreciation to Mary for the documents and research into this question. When the discussion of legal issues related to this question was completed, the closed session portion of the meeting ended, the Committee returned to open session and invited John Lamprey to return to the meeting. The regular meeting was reopened. 0