Pension_05-27-2020MinSMBOARD OF TRUSTEES
City of Longwood Police Officers and Firefighters
Pension and Trust Fund
Longwood City Commission Chambers
175 West Warren Avenue
Longwood, Florida
SPECIAL MEETING
MINUTES
MAY 27, 2020
3:00 P.M.
(Virtual Meeting — Webex)
Present: Robert Redditt, Chair
Kevin Little, Secretary
Chris Eichler, Member
Bruce Kubec, Member
Pedro Herrera, Board Attorney
Jeremy Langley, Florida League of Cities
Charles Carr, Southern Actuarial Services Company, Inc.
Michelle Longo, City Clerk
Judith Rosado, Interim Finance Director
1. Call to Order. Chair Redditt called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
2. Pledge of Allegiance.
3. Election of Vice -Chair
Chair Redditt opened the floor for nominations of Vice -Chair.
Secretary Little moved to nominate Member Kubec as Vice -Chair.
Seconded by Chair Redditt and carried by a unanimous voice vote.
Mr. Herrera advised there is an empty seat and it is that of the fifth Trustee.
There was an application received that came in after the agenda was posted. He
suggested the board to amend the agenda to add the selection of the fifth
Trustee.
Secretary Little moved to amend the agenda to add the selection
of the fifth Trustee. Seconded by Vice -Chair Kubec and carried by
a unanimous voice vote.
Mr. Herrera said according to Florida Statutes 175 and 185 and your local
ordinance, the only requirement for the fifth Trustee seat is to be willing and
able. There are no residency requirements and you do not have to be a current
Police Officer, Firefighter, or active employee. The only requirement is to be able
to conduct business on the board. There was an application received from an
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individual who applied a couple of years ago but unfortunately was unable to fill
the seat because he was not a City resident. You should have received a copy of
Mr. Cole Copertino's application. If the Board is comfortable with appointing Mr.
Copertino then it would require a motion and a second. If you want to table the
matter until another meeting you can do that as well.
Member Eichler moved to appoint Mr. Copertino as the fifth
Trustee. Seconded by Secretary Little and carried by a unanimous
voice vote.
4. Certify Re -Election of Trustee — Chris Eichler
Mr. Herrera advised Member Eichler was the only candidate and wins by
acclamation. The election was carried out but there was no need to have the
formal vote process because there was only one candidate. There should be a
motion to certify the election results and officially seat Member Eichler as the
employee election firefighter Trustee.
Vice -Chair Kubec moved to certify the re-election of Trustee
Eichler. Seconded by Secretary Little and carried by a unanimous
voice vote.
5. Approval of Minutes: January 21, 2020, Regular Meeting.
Member Eichler moved to approve the minutes as presented.
Seconded by Vice -Chair Kubec and carried by a unanimous voice
vote.
6. Review of Agenda Packet Material.
A. Quarterly Performance Review.
Mr. Langley went over the summary of the Quarterly Performance
Review skipping over the report which ended December 31, 2019, and
focused more on the current information in the March 31, 2020 report.
He answered questions from Trustees.
B. Plan Account Statements (December 2019, January 2020, and February
2020).
Mr. Langley reviewed the statements and noted that the Beginning
Balance for December 2019 was $20,862,510.54, the Contributions were
$47,059.10, The Earnings were $408,593.09 the Distributions were
$19,673.51, the Fees and Expenses were $0.00, and the ending balance
was $21,298,489.22.
Mr. Langley noted that the Beginning Balance for January 2020 was
$21,298,489.22, the Contributions were $53,739.90, the Losses were
$129,373.10, the Distributions were $20,172.71, the Fees and Expenses
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were $7,949.62, and the ending balance was $21,194,733.69.
Mr. Langley noted that the Beginning Balance for February 2020 was
$21,194,733.69, the Contributions were $81,216.94, the Losses were
$1,080,593.58, the Distributions were $19,673.51, the Fees and Expenses
were $0.00, and the ending balance was $20,175,683.54.
Member Eichler moved to accept the Plan Account Statements as
presented. Seconded by Vice -Chair Kubec and carried by a
unanimous voice vote.
C. Expense Report.
Secretary Little moved to approve the Expense Report as
presented. Seconded by Member Eichler and carried by a
unanimous voice vote.
D. Actuarial Report 2019.
Mr. Carr said there were no plans, valuation, or assumption changes. He
advised that within the last few years the legislature in Florida added a
new requirement for our public plans. We have to use the same mortality
tables that are used by the Florida Retirement System (FRS). Because FRS
uses a family of tables, we can select the appropriate collar version for
our plan within that set of tables. Last year, the FRS adopted a new set of
mortality tables. This is the first time that we have mortality tables
available to us based on public spectrum employees. Within that family
of the tables, there are public safety mortality tables. He would
recommend we use these mortality tables even without the requirement
that we follow suit. He said he completely agrees with the move that the
FRS has made. Unless there is a client who objects, I will be moving all of
my public spectrum clients to these mortality tables to the next
valuation. There are a higher cost and liability associated with these 2020
tables. If you are a participant in the plan, it may benefit you because it
means your life expectancy becomes longer than what we thought it was
before. If you are the City the cost may go up by 1% or 2% of pay. He said
the change has to be made and he wanted to give everybody a heads up.
Otherwise, all of the assumptions this year are the same as last year
including our 7% discount rate.
Mr. Carr went over Table II -A: Actuarial Value of Assets noting the DRAGO
account balance has grown. He advised the actuarial value of assets
number of $17,473,378 is what he uses after he subtracts the DRAGO and
Advance Employer Contributions.
Mr. Carr went over Table II-C: Investment Returns, noting the market
value has averaged right at 8% each year over the last 10 years. He then
went over Table II-F: Other Reconciliations, noting the Advance Employer
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Contribution grew significantly. He noted this shows the City has credit
for contributions made that are above and beyond the minimum. It is a
credit the City has with the plan. On Table I -A: Minimum Required
Contribution, he noted the minimum required contribution rate is
22.15%. This is the minimum required contribution of pensionable
earnings and based on a percentage of payroll instead of a dollar amount
that makes up the minimum required contribution rate. On Table I-C:
Gain and Loss Analysis, he noted the normal cost rate increase since last
year. He answered questions from the Board Members.
Mr. Carr noted the Actuarial Report is a draft but once the Board makes a
motion and it is approved, it becomes official and will be filed with the
Division of Retirement within 60 days.
Member Eichler moved to accept the 2019 Actuarial Valuation as
presented. Seconded by Secretary Little and carried by a
unanimous voice vote.
Mr. Herrera advised the Board needs to set the expected rate of
investment return for the next year, the next several years, and for the
long-term thereafter. He stated they typically look to the investment
professionals to give them a recommendation and the consultants have
suggested that 7% is the number they should use.
Member Eichler moved to approve an expected rate of
investment return of 7% for the next year, the next several years,
and the long-term thereafter. Seconded by Secretary Little and
carried by a unanimous voice vote.
7. Other Business.
A. Board discussion regarding the return of the hard copy files from
previous Board Attorney Christiansen & Dehner, P.A.
Mr. Herrera addressed what he discussed with Christiansen & Dehner,
P.A office regarding the hard copy files they had. He noted most of the
records he already has electronically and the previous attorney's office
has one box. He did not feel the Board needed to pay to have them
shipped and stored.
Discussion ensued on whether to keep the hard files.
It was the consensus of the Board that they did not need the hard
copy files from the previous Board Attorney Christiansen &
Debner, P.A.
B. Board discussion regarding a change in meeting dates.
Mr. Herrera discussed they had proposed to the City to make a change in
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the Code regarding the meeting time of the Board and this was approved.
It now states they shall meet at least quarterly each year. He went over
some dates for August and November meetings if the Board is
comfortable with alternate meeting dates. He noted he is available at an
earlier time of 5:00 p.m. to start the meeting. They can discuss this
further at the July meeting.
8. Board Attorney Report.
B. Board approval of an Administrative Policy for the use of Audio -Video
or Telephone conferencing to conduct virtual meetings.
Mr. Herrera said we are trying to moralize what the Board's authority is
in terms of meeting virtually according to the Governor's Executive
Order, and then outline the general framework and process to
accomplish these meetings while keeping the administrative procedures
that are tied to the Governors Executive Order. He noted that the policy
does not restrict us from using other platforms. Although it is not
technically required, I recommend adopting a policy for this in light of the
fact of not knowing what the future holds. He explained that the
Governor issued an Executive Order suspending the requirement that
public meetings take place in one physical location open to the public as
well as having a physical quorum present of the Trustees at said physical
location. This has been extended for an additional 60 days and expires on
July 9th and is expected to possibly extend again.
Member Eichler moved to approve the Administrative Policy as
presented. Seconded by Secretary Little and carried by a
unanimous voice vote.
C. Disability Review.
Mr. Herrera advised that Firefighter lamaio applied for a total permanent
service -connected disability related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD) back on March 4th. We did receive the application and sent back
an interrogatory questionnaire, as well as a HIPPA release form for our
member to sign off on. We have begun requesting medical records and
have sent out a second request for medical records to several physicians
that have not responded to our first request. He said we are trying to
move the process along and stay on top of everybody to obtain the
records needed to schedule the medical examination. Once that
physician completes his report, we will schedule the hearing with the
Board who will decide whether or not the disability pension is warranted.
Discussion ensued on the reason he is requesting disability as well as how
the process of an informal and formal hearing.
A. Review of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES).
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Mr. Herrera said these two significate pieces of legislation tried to
address two components and issues that were facing the public at large
during COVID-19. The FFCRA tried to provide additional aid lead-time to
FMLA for individuals who were directly affected; meaning the individual,
spouse, or dependent has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and is under
self -quarantine. The CARES Act is geared towards defined contribution
plans and provides access to funds in the retirement account, which
historically had barriers to access. Many of those barriers have been
suspended or removed to allow those who need to pay for their
mortgage and other things. He explained a few of the CARES Act
suspensions. If this is something you are interested in, I am happy to
work with the City in resolving any issues that may be needed and getting
this taken care of for our members.
Discussion ensued on whether or not to implement these acts for the
employees. It was the consensus of the board that changes were not
needed at the time but should the need arise they would reach out to
Mr. Herrera.
Mr. Herrera noted there were no other bills or acts that would affect
their plans. He also reminded the Board members that their Statement of
Financial Interests form is due by July 1st.
Discussion ensued on the financial disclosure forms and what happens
when turning them in late.
9. Member Comments. None.
10. Public Participation. None.
11. Adjournment. Chair Redditt adjourned the meeting at 4:55 p.m.
Minutes approved by the Board of Trustees: 07-21-2020
7
Robert Redditt, Chair
ATT ST: r
Miche le g eQ6;d'4S4&tary
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