HomeMy WebLinkAboutRetirement Committee - Minutes - 10/12/2023
General Employees Retirement
Committee
215 N. Mason
2nd Floor
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6788
970.221.6782 - fax
fcgov.com
GENERAL EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT COMMITTEE ZOOM MEETING
MINUTES
OCTOBER 12, 2023
11:00 AM
Committee Members Present: Clark Mapes, Chair
Randy Bailey, Vice Chair
Del Bernhardt
Jackie Darner
John Unger
Ralph Zentz
Others Present: Blaine Dunn
Adam Halvorson
LeeAnna Vargas
Joel Stewart
Jenny Lopez Filkins
Carolyn Koontz
___________________________________________________________________
Meeting called to order at 11 am
1. Citizen Participation and Plan Member Comments - none noted.
2. Consider Approving the Minutes from the Meeting of July 13 ,2023
Randy Bailey made a motion to approve the minutes as presented.
John Unger seconded the motion.
Approval confirmed via roll call; Clark Mapes, Randy Bailey, Del Bernhardt, Jackie Darner,
and John Unger.
3. Plan Participant Updates (LeeAnna Vargas)
1 member began annuity payment in August.
1 member took a (rollout) lump sum in August.
1 member will start payments this month.
1 member will be retiring in November.
2 members are considering retiring in 2024.
1 terminated employee reached out and is eligible.
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4. Review Investment Report (Adam Halvorson)
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5. Review Draft 2024 GERC Work Plan
Del Bernhardt made a motion to accept the 2024 GERC Work Plan as presented.
Randy Bailey seconded the motion.
Approval of the 2024 GERC Work Plan confirmed via roll call; Clark Mapes, Randy Bailey,
Del Bernhardt, Jackie Darner, John Unger, and Ralph Zentz.
The approved 2024 GERC Work Plan will be posted on the GERC website;
https://www.fcgov.com/cityclerk/boards/retirement
6. Other Business
Jenny Lopez Filkins;
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In the past, we have had some GERP members who made an arrangement with their
managers to retire and start taking their GERP benefit and then to come back to work at
the city as an employee or contractor. There are a few legals questions that raises, and
Jenny would like to consult with outside counsel to ask for an update to the previous
opinion which was issued approximately 20 years ago. This would include any possible
ramifications with IRS rules and regulations. Jenny is asking for authorization to incur
the related legal expense to obtain this guidance which should be less than $5K.
Jenny to follow up with a Confidential / Attorney Client Privilege memo to the committee
outlining the previous opinion from 20 years ago and ramifications.
Ralph Zentz made a motion to authorize Jenny to seek that opinion and incur the
associated expense up to $5K. If the amount is significantly over $5K, Jenny is to come
back to the committee for additional discussion.
John Unger seconded the motion.
Approval confirmed via roll call; Clark Mapes, Randy Bailey, Del Bernhardt, Jackie Darner, John
Unger, and Ralph Zentz.
Blaine Dunn;
1) Share with the committee that he will be leaving the city at the end of November
and moving with his family to London. His wife was offered an opportunity to
move to London.
I would like to make a recommendation to the committee that they consider bringing an
investment advisor on board to handle investments, reporting, etc. Since the city is not a
registered investment advisor or broker, we pay quite a bit more in fees for investments
than we would if an investment manager was handling this. An investment manager
could also offer more diversification in our plan investments and save some costs. If the
committee is open to this, I can start researching and working with procurement to see
what this might look like.
The committee supports getting more information at the November 9th GERC meeting.
The committee can then decide on next steps.
Meeting adjourned at 11:42 am
Clark Mapes, Chair
Carolyn Koontz, Staff Liaison
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