FMTF06-09-09 BOARD OF Tll2USTEES .
Florida Municipal Trust lFund atetirement Plan and Trust
for the Firefighters and Police Officers
Longwood City Commission Chambers
175 West Warren,Avenue
Longwood, :Florida
REGULAR MEETING
MINUTES
June 9, 2009 7:00 p.m.
Present: Marc McLarnon, Chair
Jack Smythers, Vice Charir
Matthew ~Jammes, Member
Chris .Kempf, Member
Robert Redditt, Member
Scott Christiansen, Board Attorney
Katrina Powell, City Administrator
Linda F. Goff, Recording; Secretary
1. Call to Order. Chair McLarnon called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
i
~ 2. Pledge of Allegiance. Chair McL,~rnon :led the Pledge of Allegiance.
3. .Election off Secretary.
Chair McLarnon opened the floor for nominations of Secretary.
Member Jarnmes moved tc? nominate Member Kempf as Secretary.
Seconded by Vice Chair S~nythexs and carried by a unanimous roll call
vote.
4. Approval of Minutes January 2,0, 2009 Regular Meeting.
Chair McLarnon moved to approve the Minutes of January 20, 2009 as
submitted., Seconded by Vice Chair Smythers and carried by a unanimous
voice vote.
5. Certify the Election of Trustees.
A. Police Officer Matthew Jammes.
Chair McLarnon moved t~o accept the nomination by acclamation
of Police Officer Matthew Jammes. Seconded by Vice Chair
- Smythers and carried by a unanimous roll call vote.
~ B. Firefighter Chris Kempf.
Chair McLarnon moved to accept the nomination by acclamation
Pensaon 6-9-09/1
of Firefighter Chris Kempf. Seconded by Member Redditt and ~
carried by a'unanimous roll call vote.
6. Review of Agenda Packet Material.
A. Plan Account Statements.- ' ~ •
The Statements for December 2008, January, February, March, and April
2009 were reviewed.
B. Investment Performance Review.
The Investment Performance Review eridngMarch 31, 2009 was
reviewed. '
Mr. Paul Shamoun, Retirement Services Manager, Florida League of
Cities, reported for the quarter ending March 31St, the Fund had a loss of
5.3% compared to a 7.2% loss of the Target Index, ranking the Fund in the
second percentile of all Pension Funds in their consultants universe. He
said the April Statement shows they should-have come very close to have
made back everything that was lost in the first quarter.
Mr. Shamoun said he noticed in the last minutes there was some
discussion regarding the Value Portfolio. He stated the Value Portfolio ~
had some of the home builders and some of the banks in it. He said they ~
were a little worried about the performance of that particular manager. He
affirmed he was happy to report that over the last two quarters the
manager has turned the performance around relative to the bench mark. He
reported that for the last quarter, ending March 31St, the Value Manager
was in the ninth percentile of all Value Managers for the quarter. In April,
the Value Portfolio returned' 16% for the month. He advised'the Bond
Fund at this time was in the seventh and eighth percentile. He said three
years ago our Bond Manager was not doing as well, but now our Manager
looks very good and made a positive 9% for the calendar year. He
affirmed that Atlantic Capital holds all high quality, and does the analysis
of those securities.
Mr. Shamoun said to put the current market into perspective, -when our
Bond Manager was in that ninetieth percentile, the compression between
the best and worse Bond Managers was roughly 1 % difference in return
annually. Last year that difference was 26%: He reported the Fund on
March 31St was at 50/50 and the normal allocation is supposed to be at
60/40. Because of the obvious losses in the equity markets and the gains
in the bond market, this has gotten out of balance. He advised that through
some consultations with their Board and Advisory Committee, their
consultant made a determination early in November last year to not do a
forced reallocation, but instead to reallocate the new contributions over ~
time. He stated that we were now at approximately 55/45 and may be
-very close to being back to 60/40 by the end of June.
Pension 6-9-09/2
Chair McLarnon inquired how the money received from the State was
invested.
Mr. Shamoun advised t11at everykhing that comes in by contributions for
the month is put in portfolios on the last day of the month. He said it really
depends on when the State relea:;es the money. He stated they were
supposed to release it in July, but it has been in August.
Chair McLarnon declared being in the second percentile and looking at the
overall numbers, it was amazing where the Fund is now in view of the
market conditions. •
C. ActuariallValuation Repi~rt.
The Actuarial Valuation Report as of October 1, 2008 was reviewed.
Mr, Shamoun explained an Actuarial Valuation was a snapshot on how the
Fund looks on a specific date and time. He said the Actuary has changed
one ma~or;part of the valuation process, and has updated the Mortality
Tables to the RP-2000 Mortality Tables and this is explained on page two,
. for disability,, normal retirement, and pre-retirement death. He also
increased the administrative fee expense estimate from $15,000 to $25,000
per year. He said.that on page three he ran the valuation with the old and .
the new assumptions. They incre;~sed benefits based on the Mortality
Tables that reveal that peolile are living longer. He explained that our Plan
was not hit as hard because- the Actuary was building that in over the
yews. f
Mr. Christiansen said the new Table has a built in projection for people to
live longer' and this table may lass: longer.
Vice Chairi Smythers inquired if the components of the Table were the
actual retirees.
Mr. Shamoun said that our Plan vvas so small that there was no statistical
relevance to the size of our Plan.- :Ele stated these were very large statistical
numbers.
Mr, Christiansen said the Table was based on the general population and
not just Firefighters and Police Officers. He stated the only thing they use
the Table for was Mortality and the rest was based on actualities of our
Plan.. ,
Mr. Shamoun reported the Plan has increased from 49 to 71 participants.
The 20.Deferred Vested Participants listed on,page five are people who
have left employment and their money was left in the Plan or they may not
.have received their contributions, so they were riot off the books at this
Pensi~~n 6-9-09/3
time. He continued to review the assumptions. He pointed out that the ~
State based money used fo fund the Plan as it exits today is $302,812 and
that leaves the City's minimum required contribution of $225.,575 to meet
the Minimum Required Contribution for the 2008/2009 Plan Year. They
also projected these~contributions for the 2009/2010 Plan Year. He said a
lot of Plans require this to plan for nextyear's budget.
Vice Chair Smythers inquired why•the amount from the State remained
the same with the number of Members in the Plan increasing.
Mr. Clu•istiansen said the basic answer was that the State money had
nothing to do with the Members in the Plaii. The State money is based
upon a tax of insurance premiums written within the City.
Mr. Shamoun explained the State's base is frozen at the tune a benefit is
giveri. He said the issue was that it always costs 10% of payroll and the
payroll is set in this Plan to increase from 5% to 8% a year. He stated at
this point that an7ount will'not change and anything over that amount goes
in the Share Plan benefit. He explained if that amount falls below the
$302,812, the City makes up the difference. He reviewed•tlie Schedule of
Employer Contributions on page ten and advised, as a Board they want to
make sure that Percentage is 100%. He reviewed the Schedule of Funding
Progress and said the Plan uses the aggregate funding method. He said
• there was a change in 2008 that was a change in the GASB requirements.
He affirmed that under the aggregate funding method, the City was still at
a 100% funded ratio. "
Member Jammes said he has previously inquired and would like to ask
again how the City can have $1.4 million in the City reserve if they have
only contributed a total of $400,000.
Mr. Shamoun explained that from 1996 until the law changed with 99-1,
the City was allowed to use all of the State money for their contribution.
Mr. Christiansen advised this was the first Bill signed. by Governor Jeb
Bush. He said there was no language prior to 99-1'' and prior to that time
the. City could use. all of the State money to fund the current benefits in the
Plan. He stated from 99 forward, all additional benefits over and above
this amount in 99, which is referred to as the frozen amount, has to be
used "to fund additional benefits. He said they apparently made some
benefit improvements after 99 and the frozen amount went up when this
was done. At that point, it was decided that the additional State money
would be placed in the Share Account to be distributed to people as they
retire.
Member Jammes said he has already checked with the City for those ~
records to show how the money was distributed during that time frame and
these records have either been destroyed or misplaced through different
Pension 6-9-09/4
managers. He requested Mr. Sh~unoun to provide him with the specific
records or information for those years.
Mr. Shamoun said the Valuation would show the accounting of every
dollar.
Member Jammes said his question would be if there was no base set
during that time period, why wouldn't it go into the Defined Account.
Mr. Shamoun advised the Definf:d didn't exist during that time. He said
they would need to pull and read. what the Statute said in 1,998 or 1999.
He stated ithat was what 99-1 added to the. Statutes.
Member Jammes said he wanted to be able to show this information in
black and white to the Officers.
Mr. Shamoun said he would :pull out that page in the Valuation Report to
provide to; Member Jammes. He stated 99-1 was the nanie of the law.
Secretary Kempf said on Table I:x, page riventy-two, it states that
"Participants under the age of 40 or with less than 15 years of service who
terminate their employment are assumed to receive a refund of their
accwnulated contributions," He inquired if this was total contributions, or
just what was in the fiu1d.
Mr. Shamoun said this was the total amount of money that had been
deducted from their paycheck. I={e advised if a Member draws out their
accumulated contributions., even if they are vested, they give up all rights
to the benefits. He stated. they coi.~ld come back within 5 years and pay it .
back.
Mr. Christiansen inquired if they did not make 7.5% last year.
Mr. Shamoun responded in. the ai:firmative.
Mr. Christiansen said they were basically showing a neutral Plan, except
for the changes made in the assur.nption rate. He inquired if they didn't
make the 7;.5% assumption, why didn't the requirement from the City go
up. ,
Mr. Shamoun said that was for 2(108/2009 and 2009/2010. He stated the
last Valuation was done in 2006 rind the contribution from 2006 to 2008
went from ;$293,704 to $528,387.
Chair McLarnon moved tq approve the Actuarial Valuation Report
~ as submitted. Seconded by Member Jammes and carried by a
unanimous roll call vote.
Pension 6-9-x)9/5
D. Annual Report.
The 2008 Annual Report was reviewed.
Mr. Shamoun advised this Report had'been submitted to the State.
Chair McLarnon inquired as to why the Annual Report was late in being
submitted to the State.
Mr. Shamoun said they were originally waiting for a Board. Meeting for it
to be reviewed and signed. He stated in the future they plan to get this
report to the Board and have it submitted in February.
Secretary Kempf said when he was reviewing this he noticed the Police
Officers' statistical exhibits, but he did not see anything for the
Firefighters.
Mr. Shamoun said there should be a regular page and then a page with an
"a". He said because it is a combined Plan, the employees may not be
broken up.
Secretary Kempf said the Firefighters wanted to see the 1% they were ~
contributing versus the City contributions and all that was included was a
breakdown from the Police Officers.
Mr. Shamoun said the percent of payroll number was just an ease item for
the City. He explained that the City was contributing a total amount and
' not necessarily a percentage of each person's salary. He stated the payroll
number was based on actuarial payroll. He explained that the State Report
only requires and tracts the total amount of money that went into the Fund
as what was required by the Actuary. He said that since the Ordinance
states that 1% of the employee's payroll goes into the Fund, they have to
demonstrate that 1 % of the payroll did go into -the Fund during the year.
Ms. Powell said that he just wanted to see the page with the Firefighter's
contributions.
Mr. Shamoun said he knows that pages 15 and 15a exist and was included.
He stated he would check to make sure it was just a matter of it not getting
included in the~copy provided to the Trustees. He said' he v~rould make sure
they receive a copy.
Vice Chair Smythers inquired. if there was a certain percentage that comes
out of the property tax.
~i
Mr. Shamoun explained there was a tax on insurance premiums, not
property taxes. He said there was 0.85% taxed on the homeowner's
Pension 6-9-09/6
insurance~premiums for Fire and. 1.85% that is taxed on automobile
~ insurance premiums used to fund the Police. He stated the tax was only on
the casualty premiums for both.
Chair McLarnon moved ~to approve the 2008 Annual Report as
provided. Seconded by Member Reddift and carried by a
uri'animous roll cala vote.
7. Other Business.
A. Review Draft Ordinance Amiending the Retirement~Plan and Trust
for Credited Service and Normal Retirement Date.
Chair McLarnon said they have 1:alked about this going on eighteen
months and they have an Ordinance being presented.
Mr. Shamoun said there were a couple of amendments that need to be
made. Longwood has a Gii:y Conunission, not a Council. He said the last
• "Whereas i' in the Ordinance needs to be changed from age 55 and 5 years
of service Ito age 50 and 5 years of service.
Mr. Christiansen said he thought they were discussing just changing the
vesting to ;50 and 5 as opposed tc~ changing the Normal Retirement Date.
Member Jammes said. the vesting; was previously changed to 5 years and
there was some confusion in the aanguage to where half of the Department
was recruited at 50 and 5. He stated they have the recruiting documents
handed out that document i:f they left after 5 years; when they turned 50
they could draw benefits. He said this was what was to be amended in
order to clear this up.
Mr. Christiansen said basically what happened was. they were vested when
they left, but they could never draw a benefit because they never reached
the years o,f service. He stated if They changed it to 5 years to be vested,
then it sounds like they fixed the problem.
Member Jammes explained) the p~:•oblem was that it still stated Normal
Retirement Age at 55 with 10 yeacrs of service.
I
Mr. Shamoun explained there was an Ordinance passed that just changed
members being fully vested at 5 }ears, but the retirement eligibilities were
never changed .from the 10 years.
Mr. Christiansen said they didn't need to change the Normal Retirement
.Age. He said they could do that if they want, but they could simply change
the vesting~section to make it clear that they could start to draw at age 50.
He inquired if they did a cost analysis of this.
Mr. Shamoun said the Actuary looked at this and already changed in the
Pension 6-9-09/7
valuation, for cost purposes, making it age 50 and 5 years. He stated the
Actuary had to assume when somebody was going to get paid out, even if
the Ordinance didn't particularly say that. He said there was no cost to
make this change, since it is already done in the valuation process.
Mr. Christiansen said he reviewed the credited service buybacks and there
have been some changes that resulted from the passage of the legislation.
One of those provisions allows for out-of--state buyback. He. stated there
were some other provisos that he would recommend putting in. He said
under the old law you were allowed to buy prior service as a police officer
or firefighter only in the State of Florida. The new legislation that just
passed allows broadening the buyback ability to include service from
another state or federal service, only if the certification requirements for
the service outside are equivalent to the State of Florida. He affirnied this
needs to be in the Ordinance. He stated this language does not deal with
that as proficiently as' it should.
Ms. Powell said she sent this Ordirance to Mr. Definer in early February
and asked him to review it. She inquired if it would be possible for Mr.
Cluistiansen to make these amendments to the Ordinance in addition to
the other items the Board talked about.
Mr. Christiansen responded in the affirmative. He distributed some
proposed buyback language. He said he was basically using the language
they use in all of their Plans for buyback of military service and buyback
of prior police and fire service. He stated this language also has the
provision included that takes into consideration if somebody buys back
service from outside of the State. He advised they did not have to include
allowing people to buyback service outside of the State, as this was an
optional provision. He said if this is incorporated in the Ordinance and the
change for Normal Retirement Date, then he can get this done fairly
quickly and send it to Ms. Powell.
Vice Chair Smythers inquired if allowing buyback of service would be
better for future recruiting.
Mr. Christiansen responded in the affirmative. He advised with the
buyback provision, they cannot buyback service for which they will
receive credit for in another Plan.
Chair McLarnon inquired how they would verify the accreditation
standards were compatible.
Mr. Christiansen said with the language included, the onus is on the
.
individual to prove to the Board of Trustees that the service is equivalent
to the service he would have had with the certification in the State of ~
Florida.
Pension 6-9-09/8
Secretary Kempf inquired if the service had to be paid or volunteer.
Mr. Christiansen said a.voluntee:r is typically not certified and would not
meet the qualifications.
Mr. Shamoun said this was for previous fill time service as a paid Police
Officer or Firefighter. ,
Member Jan~.mes .said that Florida was the third highest in the country for
Fire and Police accreditation standards. He stated people coming here
from another State have to take an equivalency exam through the
Cormnunity Colleges. He,:;aid tllere was a 96 hour mandatory high
liability course and they ca.n then. challenge the. State exam. He stated they
have to meet the minimum requirements in order to qualify for the 96 hour
course. Otherwise, they have to take the full academy classes.
I
Mr. Christiansen said when they have discussed this with other Police
Departments they felt if somebody was taking the short course, then they
could buy;the service. However, if they had to do the whole school, then
they did not qualify.
Membcr Jarmnes declared he would like to see the language included so
that the minimum requirements had to be met for the 96 hour course.. He
said he did not know if there was a short course for firefighters.
Mr. Christiansen advised that.thi:; Board makes the decision as to whether
they meet the equivalency or .not. He suggested the Board could develop
those requirements on their own.
Mr. Shamoun said they had buybacks in most of their Plans, and it was
extremely rare for,sonieone; to want to3buyback because of, the cost being
so high. j ~ .
F
Mr. Christiansen said the closer you get to retirement; the more a year
costs. He stated if someone may leave service in another City; they will
have contributions and could roll those contributions into this Plan to help
pay for they service they are buying in this Plan. He advised there was no
cost to the Plan associated wii:h tr~em buying the service, they burden the
full cost. of purchasing the additional service.
Chair McL;arnon inquired i:F the burden for the first actuarial determination
would be on the Plan.
Mr. Christiansen said his language requires the person. to pay the actuary
for the cost of the valuation. so thf;re is no cost to the Plan. ~ .
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Member Jammes said the reason they discussed and asked for the one time
valuation was because of the time frame this had taken.
Pensi~~n 6-9-09/9
Mr. Christiansen said they cannot do a general cost because it would be
different for each individual. He stated that he could put language in for a
one time free one.
Chair McLarnon said now was not the time to be spending extra money.
He stated they were adding the opportunity within the Plan for them to do
the buyback and if they are serious about it, they can be given the ballpark
figure of 25% based on age and if they want to continue it further, then the
burden would be' on them.
Mr. Christiansen said one thing in this language that was not in the other
one is that it allows multiple requests: He stated there may be a situation
where an individual has four or five years of service to buy and perhaps
they can only afford to purchase one year. This allows them'to purchase a
year at a time as they have the money and makes it easier.
It was the consensus of Board to include the feature for multiple requests.
Mr. Christiansen said if the Board wanted to direct him to make the
changes for the buyback and the change for the Normal Retirement Age,
then he will make these arnend'ments and get the Ordinance to the City.
Chair McLarrion moved to approve having Scott Christiansen
modify the Ordinance so that it includes the three items that were
discussed at this Meeting. Seconded by Member Redditt and
carried by a~unaiiimous roll call vote.
8. Board Attorney Report.
Mr. Christiansen reported~the'Ope`rating'Rules and Procedures will be on the
Agenda for the July meeting. He reminded the Members to file their Financial
Disclosure Form 1 by July 1St. He advised Secretary Kempf that he should file a
new one within thirty days of being elected. He informed the Trustees the fines
for not filing start Sepfember'1 Sc. ~ „ ; ' '
Secretary Kempf said he had not received the paperwork.
The Recording Secretary advised that the City Clerk enclosed ~a Financial
Disclosure Form 1 with the letter she sent out notifying him of his appointment to
the Board. '
Mr. Christiansen advised that each time the Board approves an Actuarial ,
Valuation there is a requirement m the State'Law that states they have to declare
an expected rate of investment return for the next year, the next'several years, and
the long term thereafter. He explained that typically after approving an Actuarial
' Valuation, you look to your investment'professional and~ask for their
Pension 6-9-09/l0
recommendation and then declare; to. the; State what you expect to have as these
returns. He inquired what Mr. Shamourn's recommendation was.
Mr. Shamoun said his recommendation was to continue to keep the assumption of
7.5%. He stated some of the Boards decided to lower that assumption to 7%, but
there was nothing wrong with the 7.5%, He said the 60/40 Fund they were in,
based on the FIVIPTF Investment :Policy is suppose to return a 7.5% return with a
95% probability of doing that over time. He advised they also.send a letter to the
State with all of their members' names with their consultants recorrunendation of
the allocation.. He affirmed they believe this to be a good short and long term
assumption.
Mr. Clistiansen suggested someone may want. to consider making a motion to
the affect that based upon our investmenrt professional, they expect to receive a
7.5% retLUn over the next year, next several years, and the long teen thereafter.
Chair McLarnon moved that having listened to their investment
professional, they will want to notify the State that our expected.return on
the Investment Portfolio will be '7.5% for this year, next year, and the
years going forward. Seco:rided ~,y Member Redditt and carried by a
unanimous roll call vote.
Mr. Christiansen said he would send a proposed form letter that can be used. He
advised the letter.has to go to the ;Mate ~~ctuary and sent to the City as well.
Mr. Christiansen reported on a Bill that had been pending in Tallahassee. He said
this Bill was passed on the last day of the Legislative Session. He reviewed the
changes thi Bill made. to Chapters .175 and 18~. He stated he already explained
the first thing, which was the broadening; of buyback of credited service to outside
the State of Florida for Police and Fire Plans as an optional provision. The second
optional provision that was included in t:he legislation would allow to change the
terms for Trustees to four year terms if tl.ley so desired. He advised that the plus
side was the learning curve being a little longer for Trustees and the requirement
to go to school and receive education and training as per a requirement of the law.
He suggested they; give this some. thougl'ct and if they feel it would be
advantageous, they can make that change to the Plan. He said the next change
deals with health nsura~ice. He stated that retired Police Officers and Firefighters
that go out on normal retirement o:r disability retirement, if they choose to stay in
the City .group health policy, can authori:~e the Pension Plan to take the premiums
as payroll deduction and the first $3,000 of the premiums are pretax.. He said this
legislation allows for fhe pretax benefit for premiums of health insurance policies
not with the City. He advised that the next change made was with regards to the
limitation in Chapters 175 and 185 of investments in foreign securities. This
legislation increased the limitation to 25'/0 of the market.
Mr. Shamoun advised the Florida League of Cities have no desire or plans to
increase that above the l 0% policy they currently have..
Pension 6-9-(19/11
Chair McLarnon inquired if the City was self-funded, or how the current health
insurance policy~was set with the City.
Ms. Powell advised the City had just changed carriers to Blue Cross/Blue Shield
and they were not self insuring the risk.
Mr. Christiansen said the next change also had to do with investments and he
assumes the League was following up with the requirement. to divest themselves
of all of these requirements.
Mr. Shamoun said the understanding that they have on the divested issue in
Senate Bill 538 was that it points back to the language for the SBA and under this
language, if you are in a comingled fund; you are not required to divest of
anything. The only requirement was to send a letter that states you would wish to
divest of these compaiues. He advised that as a trust they will send the letter to the
managers snaking that request and copy the Boards.
Mr. Christiansen advised that this rule applied to the Florida Retirement System
several years ago and they have now made it applicable to the Police Officers and
Firefighters Pension Plans. He reported there was a provision currently in
Chapters 175 and 185 that deals with termination of the Plan. He advised if the
City decided to terminate the Plan, the law cuurrently says everyone in the Plan
becomes 100% vested in their accrued benefit. The problem was that the State ~
Statute, said that first, but then it went on to say'if they were going."to distribute the
money from the Plan, they would first pay retirees the value of their benefit, and
if there was any money left they would pay out the vested people in the Plan, then
the non-vested people in the Plan. He said these two things never read together
consistently. He advised a couple of years ago there was a Florida case decided
that took on this issue and this case decided that language means you are 100%
vested if the Plan was terminated. He stated this means if the Plan was short on
funds; the City has to put in the additional funds to pay out everybody their vested
benefit.
Mr. Shamoun said this was something they will be amending. He advised this
would be taken up by their Board at the September meeting.
Mr. Christiansen advised that Governor Charlie Crist has signed the Bill and these
changes will become effective on July 1St
Member Jammes inquired fthey were saying'if they decided to eliminate the
Florida League of Cities Retirement, or if they shift the Plan Members to a
different retirement system, would that qualify this Plan as being dissolved.
Mr. Christiansen explained the Florida League of Cities was not their retirement
system. Their retirement system is a local pension plan that is adopted by the City
so the City would make that decision. He said the only thing the Florida League ~J
of Cities was doing for them was investingtheir assets and administering the Plan.
He affirmed the Plan was the local Plan and it was subject to these rules.
Pension 6-9-09/12
Member Jammes inquired if the City decided to keep a retirement plan, but
change from their: current Plan, would tl~iat rule apply.
Mr. Christiansen 'said this rule tally about termination. However, there are other
rules associated with what they would decide to do if going back to the Florida
Retirement System or another Plan.
9. Member Comments.
Secretary Kempf said a lot of the ]Firefighters were confused under the Summary
Plan Description, ;under Salary where it states "Compensation means the fixed
monthly compensation..." versus compe:nsation versus total cash. He requested
Mr. Shamoun to explain this.
Mr. Shamoun said Chapters 175 a:nd 18_`~ parallel each other in almost ever~~thing,
but salary is one of those areas where the>y differ. He explained a Police Officers
definition has total cash remuneration paid for services rendered. The Firefighter
is the fixed monthly remuneration paid.:E-Ie stated the City could change the
definition to be greater than this, but that is the minimum and has always been in
the Plan since it was enacted in 1996.
Secretary Kempf inquired if that included overtime.
Mr. Shamoun responded in the ne€;ative. He said this was a local definition of the
Ordinance and had nothing to do with the Florida League of Cities.
Mr. Christiansen explained the minimum in Chapter .175 was base compensation.
The minimum in Chapter 185 for Police Off cers was total compensation.
Secretary Kempf inquired if that could b~e changed.
Mr. Shamoun responded in the affirmati~~e.
10. Public Participation.
i
Ms. Powell inquired if they could i~btain statements to the employees. She said
she was hearing they were not receiving statements.
i
Mr. Shamoun said! they typically come with the valuation and he thought they
were sent approximately four months ago. He stated he could have another copy
sent. He explained they only do them when there is an Actuarial Valuation Report
done, so they would have received them :in 2006.
Ms. Powell inquired if the bills for the Board Attorneys were being paid. She said
~ she keeps getting statements that show a running total.
Mr. Shamoun said; he has a copy of these bills and they can only pay them if they
Pension 6=9-09/13
are authorized to be paid and sent to them.
Ms. Powell inquired if the process was that we receive the bills and send them to
the League of Cities for payment.
Mr. Shamoun said the authorized person from the City, which has always been
the Finance Director,. could authorize those payments, or the Chairman of the
Fund has to authorize those payments.
Mr. Christiansen advised in the Operating Rules and Procedures, once they are
approved, there is a procedure for payment of bills. He said the procedure listed
was for two Trustees to approve for payment, and then the bills go on the Agenda
for the next meeting. He affirmed the Trustees are responsible for money leaving
the Fund, not the City, and they need to be the ones approving these and making it
apart of their minutes.
Member Jammes said when Mr. Definer came on board, it was approved by the
Board for the City to go ahead and send those bills out. He stated Ms. Rogers was
authorized to have those bills paid and they would be reviewed at the quarterly
meeting.
Mr. Shamoun said that starting next month people will have the ability to log into
their system electronically to have bills paid. He stated they would prefer to do an
Automated Clearing House (ACH) payment to the vendors account.
Ms. Powell said she just wanted to make sure people were getting paid. She stated
she wanted to make sure our employees were being taken care of and it was not
taking 18 months to get things done. •
Mr. Shanioun said that was not the League of Cities, and advised he wrote this
Ordinance two years ago.
Ms. Powell said she saw the 2007 date and affirmed this would no longer be
standard operating procedure.
Mr. Christiansen inquired if this Ordinance was going to go directly to the City by
way of a recommendation, or did the Board want to look at it again in a meeting.
Chair McLarnon said he would like to look at the whole Ordinance again. He
stated they have a meeting in July.
1VIs. Powell said the Pension Board Meeting was on July 21St and the last
Commission Meeting in .July is on fhe 20th. She -stated they could have a Special
Meeting to review the Ordinance and she could get it on the Commission Agenda.
Member Jammes said he felt they addressed all of their concerns since this has
been going on for so long.
Pension 6-9-09/14
1Vli•. Shamoun said;he believed the motion. was that the Board approved the
Ordinance with the changes as reviewed. He suggested if they want an extra
comfort level, they could send a copy of it to the Board Members aild they could '
contact the Attorney individually if they had an issue.
Chair McLarnon said that was corrF;ct, the:y did approve it with the changes so
they can go with that.
11~s. Powell requested they let her know if they have any issues with the
Ordinance once it i~s sent out to them. Otherwise, they can anticipate it being on
the City Conunission Meeting Agenda for July 20th.
11. Adjournment. Chair McLarnon adjounled the meetfrf at 9:01 p.m.
' ~c.,c.,~u,,
Mar 1~
ATTEST:
- ~ i ,
inda F. Goff, CMC, e ording Secretary
~,m,,
Pension 6-9-09,'15