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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDocumentation_Pension General_Tab 02_05/03/2010 1 SYNOPSIS OF GENERAL EMPLOYEES PENSION BOARD EMERGENCY MEETING HELD MARCH 30, 2010 1. Member John Terzakis was requested to find out how long it might take for First Citizens Bank to become a qualified public depository and report the status at the May meeting. 2. Voted to move all of the General Employees Pension funds now held by First Citizens Bank except for $100, to Salem Trust Company on an interim basis, with the expectation that the funds will then be moved back to First Citizens Bank contingent upon First Citizens Bank becoming a qualified public depository. 3. Chair Rhodes requested that the step -by -step process developed by Attorney Jensen and Pension Coordinator McWilliams be added to the May meeting agenda. 4. Voted to approve the retirement documents for Catherine Harding as finalized and processed. 5. Discussed whether a third party administrator was needed; reviewed a list of duties to determine the amount of hours each took to accomplish and who performed those duties, and how a third party administrator would handle those duties. 6. Chair Rhodes asked that each member of the Board and the current team review each section of duties and say whether or not they thought someone from the current team could do each of the roles or if it should be considered to be outsourced. He asked that each provide their statements to Pension Coordinator McWilliams within one week, and that she disseminate them so that everyone would have everyone else's information before the May meeting. 7. Voted to invite the two firms which had shown interest to the next meeting to make presentations. Presentations were to be limited to ' / 2 hour and books were to be provided in advance. END OF SYNOPSIS No Text DRAFT TEQUESTA GENERAL EMPLOYEES PENSION TRUST FUND EMERGENCY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING March 30, 2010 Call To Order And Roll Call The Tequesta General Employees Pension Trust Fund Board of Trustees held an emergency meeting at the Tequesta Village Hall, 345 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta, Florida, on Monday, March 30, 2010. The meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m. A roll call was taken by Pension Coordinator Lori McWilliams. Board Members in attendance at the meeting were: Chair Michael Rhodes, Secretary Carl Hansen, Board Member Deanna Mayo, Board Member Michelle Gload, and Board Member John Terzakis. Also in attendance were Attorney Bonni Jensen, Pension Coordinator Lori McWilliams, Finance Director Jody Forsythe, and Senior Accountant Monica Rahim. Recording Secretary Betty Laur was absent from the meeting. Approval of Agenda MOTION Motion was made by Secretary Carl Hansen, seconded by Board Member Gload, to approve the agenda as submitted. Motion carried by unanimous 5 -0 vote. Consideration of moving pension funds from First Citizens Bank (formerly Sun American Bank) Attorney Jensen advised that Sun American Bank had been taken over by the FDIC, and the fund's assets had been purchased by First Citizens Bank, which was not a qualified public depository. Governmental funds in deposit accounts were required by law to be in a qualified public depository. The Board's choices were to transfer the funds to Salem Trust, which charged $15 to write a check; temporarily transfer the funds to Salem Trust until a qualified public depository was found; or the funds could be transferred directly into another bank which was a qualified public depository. Senior Accountant Rahim reported on the number of checks written; Chair Rhodes summarized that during a 90 -day period the fees would be approximately $150 to have the money with Salem Trust. Board Member Terzakis reported First Citizens was a 5 -star rated bank and they were currently seeking qualified public depository status. Discussion ensued. Board Member Terzakis was to find out how long it might take for First Citizens to become a qualified public depository. The status would be reported at the quarterly May meeting. No Text Minutes of General Employees' Pension Trust Fund Board Meeting March 30, 2010 2 MOTION: Secretary Hansen made a motion to move all of the General Employees' Pension funds now held by First Citizens Bank except for $100.00, to Salem Trust Company on an interim basis, with the expectation that the funds will then be moved back to First Citizens Bank contingent upon First Citizens Bank becoming a qualified public depository. Motion was seconded by Board Member Mayo, and carried by unanimous 5 -0 vote. Approval of Notice of Benefits for Catherine Harding Attorney Jensen reported Catherine Harding had completed all of the documents for retirement beginning January 1, 2010, and had selected a life annuity option. She was entitled to a benefit payment as soon as possible, going back to January 1, and then would receive a check on the first of each month. She was the first retiree in the fund. Attorney Jensen reported she and Pension Coordinator McWilliams had established a policy of a step -by -step process to follow when an employee retired. Chair Rhodes asked that the policy be added to the May meeting agenda. MOTION: Board Member Terzakis made a motion to approve the retirement documents for Catherine Harding as finalized and processed. Secretary Hansen seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 5 -0 vote. Request Board approval to invite the firms which have shown interest in becoming the Village's third party pension administrator to attend the May 3, 2010 quarterly meeting to present their proposals and be ready to answer any questions (requested by Board Member Gload) Board Member Gload advised she had contacted two firms to get a general idea, which had turned into her actually getting quotes from them, and asked if it was still the plan to get a third party administrator. Chair Rhodes asked for discussion. Board Member Terzakis indicated it was his understanding some changes were needed. Secretary Hansen commented he understood that the Village Manager felt the Village was not carrying the cost of administering the fund; therefore, the Board had to make arrangements to carry the cost themselves. Pension Coordinator McWilliams clarified that the Village Manager did not want any Village employees involved in administering the pension fund. Chair Rhodes asked why; Secretary Hansen asked if that was for cost reasons or for ethical reasons because the employees would eventually be participating as retirees. Pension Coordinator McWilliams advised she could not answer that. Chair Rhodes commented he was all for progress and doing things the proper way, and reported he had had a conversation with the Village Manager and he understood that work load was a factor, but he was not a proponent of ram rodding things through just for the sake of No Text Minutes of General Employees' Pension Trust Fund Board Meeting March 30, 2010 ram rodding them through. Chair Rhodes stated for the record that he believed the current team was doing an excellent job. He felt the Board needed to give this item due justice; the Board had a fiduciary responsibility that if one extra dollar in costs was to be incurred and if it were to be borne by the pension plan as opposed to the Village, it was all the more reason to make sure they were doing what was proper. Attorney Jensen advised the Village ultimately paid the pension expenses dollar for dollar by reimbursement through the actuarial calculation. Chair Rhodes noted that the list provided by Pension Coordinator McWilliams showed she had done a lot; she pointed out that list also included things done by the Finance Department. Board Member Gload clarified the black print was a combination of items from proposals submitted and the tasks performed by each party as listed in the front of the pension books. Chair Rhodes requested each task be reviewed, looking at who had done it in the past and who should do it in the future, and how much time was spent on each. He commented he saw that a lot of this was done by people who were a part of the current team — Attorney Jensen, Betty Laur, and the financial team. Chair Rhodes expressed his opinion that the tangible coordination that had been provided by Pension Coordinator McWilliams and her team was of real value and if that were subcontracted out there would be a disconnect. Board Member Terzakis asked what the time frame was to transfer services; Pension Coordinator McWilliams responded by the end of the summer. Chair Rhodes commented that did not negate going over the services to see who had done them and the amount of time spent, because the Board would need to know that in order to evaluate a third party administrator. Finance Director Forsythe asked if the services would include what the Finance Department currently did. Attorney Jensen responded the third party administration firms did everything, but their services could be customized. Chair Rhodes noted that internal decisions needed to be made before a third party firm made a proposal because they would need to know the scope of services the Village wanted. Board Member Terzakis indicated he would like to hear from the firms so that the Board would know the high number, and then by reviewing the tasks find out what the need actually was, because that could provide leverage for negotiations, and the next time the firms could present just what was needed. Attorney Jensen suggested limiting the time for presentations to one -half hour. Chair Rhodes commented he saw overlap in services currently provided. Attorney Jensen commented if the Board retained a third party administrator, that would replace Betty Laur's position. Pension Coordinator McWilliams expressed hope that the third party administrator might utilize Betty's services. Chair Rhodes felt it was the Board's responsibility to find out how much time was spent on each task and what tasks were included so that they could communicate with the Village Manager all the implications of transferring services. Attorney Jensen advised there were mainly two firms in the State of Florida that provided these services; Board Member Gload indicated two firms had provided proposals. No Text Minutes of General Employees' Pension Trust Fund Board Meeting March 30, 2010 4 Secretary Hansen asked if there would still be a person in the Village that the firms would be in contact with to tell them there was going to be a meeting, etc.; Attorney Jensen explained they would do that themselves —they would replace Betty. They would run the pension fund from their own place of business. Attorney Jensen confirmed that Secretary Hansen's duties should not change. Chair Rhodes requested that the Board go down the list of duties to discuss the time involved in each. Board Member Mayo suggested having each person involved to list the time they put into each task and to bring that to the May meeting. The time spent to coordinate a meeting was discussed. Pension Coordinator McWilliams indicated it could take two weeks to coordinate and prepare for a meeting, according to how long the agenda was, and to transcribe minutes took about an hour for each 15 minutes of a meeting, although it did not take Betty that long because of her expertise. It probably took a week per quarter. Getting ready for a meeting probably took two weeks time. Chair Rhodes asked how much of that was Lori's time and how much was Betty's time. Pension Coordinator McWilliams advised it depended upon what was going on in the office as to who did which tasks —both attended the meetings; Betty did the minutes; both coordinated with the service providers —Betty did the majority of it and Lori stepped in if there were issues; agenda preparation — Betty did the majority but Lori or Deanna could step in to help if needed; as Supervisor, Lori monitored; Betty prepared notice of meetings, scheduling of meetings was half and half only because Betty only worked 7 hours a week and was not there to do it every time; Betty was accountable to Lori. Chair Rhodes asked if Betty could do it by herself; Pension Coordinator McWilliams indicated she felt Betty was capable, but because she only worked 7 hours per week, what she could not get done had to be done by Lori. The Pension Coordinator advised she had been assigned other job duties and the Pension fund was becoming more active and took a lot of time. Secretary Hansen asked if the Public Safety Pension would be doing this also. Pension Coordinator McWilliams responded she had wanted this to be a joint meeting but could not get a quorum for that Board. Attorney Jensen indicated the Boards could utilize two different third party administrators but it would be better if both had the same one; however, one board could not tell the other what to do. Pension Coordinator McWilliams estimated the Public Safety fund might take a little more time, but not much, and it depended on what was going on with each board. A report for Public Safety regarding cash remuneration had taken about a month. Attorney Jensen commented that the next few items on the list were the same —it depended on what was going on with each issue at the time, such as "advise and educate the Board on various pension matters ", whether the Board wanted to have a training session, or if they wanted to bring in participants for a discussion of pension benefits. Acting as a liaison to the Florida Division of Retirement only came up if there were issues such as documents to be submitted, and that happened rarely with the General Employees' plan. Elections would only happen if there were a No Text Minutes of General Employees' Pension Trust Fund Board Meeting March 30, 2010 vacancy on the Board; maintenance of current contracts was ongoing. Attorney Jensen commented that responding to inquiries from boards and service providers, coordinating basic communications between the boards and service providers, and preparing correspondence to providers and participants was probably most of the work associated with this particular section. The others were item specific. Managing the pending matters list would be done after a meeting. Pension Coordinator McWilliams advised her staff communicated with service providers between meetings to make sure everything the Board had directed was done and that anything in between that needed to be discussed at the next meeting was brought up. Chair Rhodes commented that the tangible liaison connection was one of his concerns; he felt it would take an outsider a very long period of time to become intimately aware of everything that was done, and he felt that more time, depending on the cost arrangement, could be spent, and the quality of communication could impact everybody, and he felt this was a very big issue. Attorney Jensen noted internet setup would be a big initial item for a third party administrator. Pension Coordinator McWilliams advised she had set up on the Village's website a section for each pension board. Chair Rhodes summarized that the administration section was variable with a noted two or three key points; there was a lot of time involved. He commented that the amount of time an outsider talked to another outsider needed to be minimized because if the attorney had to do more with an outsider it became very much of a disconnect. Attorney Jensen commented most of the items under plan and policy changes would be done at her office. Most administration would be at the Board level, although there would be some pre - preparation and post - preparation in getting to how it would impact the administration. She and Pension Coordinator McWilliams had put together the policy for retirement —Lori had prepared it and Attorney Jensen had tweaked it. Attorney Jensen advised that the Village would still be very important in ordinance changes. Secretary Hansen asked if an outside party might provide prices that were way out of line because they were not privy to this discussion and did not actually know the amount of time involved. Attorney Jensen commented they were pretty good at pricing their services and were familiar with the consultants; their biggest problem was getting their systems to talk to the Village systems. Attorney Jensen commented on the next section, service providers, that the amount of time depended on what was going on, but an ongoing requirement dovetailed back into backup information for agenda preparation. Also included in this section was receiving invoices and making sure they were in accordance with the contract, and sending them to be paid. Pension Coordinator McWilliams noted preparations for the next meeting were handled over the entire time between meetings and not No Text Minutes of General Employees' Pension Trust Fund Board Meeting March 30, 2010 b just before a meeting took place, and she thought more time, 8 hours per month, should be added for preparing paperwork for payments and reviewing the invoices. Public records custodian — Attorney Jensen indicated this would be a big thing initially to get set up and become familiar with all the documents, and locating documents if someone made a public records request, but it would become routine to maintain. Pension Coordinator McWilliams noted the State of Florida had different record retention time period requirements for each type of document. The third party firms should be familiar with the record retention laws. Time estimated was minimum 8 hours quarterly for records. Attorney Jensen noted the next section, Members and Benefits, was the bulk of the third party administrator's work, which would also be a lot initially to get set up. Tax withholding and preparation of tax forms would be handled by Salem Trust as custodian. Attorney Jensen advised that one of the companies could do this, but Benefits USA preferred to use the custodian for these items. Chair Rhodes commented that the actuary would play a role as far as maintaining data for participants, and processing benefit claims and appeals. Attorney Jensen responded many times the third party administrators would do calculations and forward to the actuary for validation to be sure it was calculated correctly, and the actuary would charge less for validation than if they did the calculation. Pension Coordinator McWilliams noted that retirees expected to be provided with estimates of their future benefits, which Village staff could not provide, but a third party administrator would be able to do that. Finance Director Forsythe commented all of the information needed by the actuary was provided by the payroll department, and she did not think anyone else could do that. Board Member Gload clarified that the Finance Department filled out a report annually for the actuary stating everyone's salaries, and if anyone retired the payroll department had to provide the top years of salary. Attorney Jensen advised if the Board wanted a third party administrator to provide benefit calculations, they would need to access the Village information —the Village would send them payroll information every two weeks or however often employees were paid, and they would load that into their system, and they would then do all the coordination with the actuary and keep track of the information. Attorney Jensen advised they would have a system that could be accessed by employees online or they would provide benefit statements. Secretary Hansen commented when he worked for United Technologies, the personnel department had all those figures, and asked if that was provided to new employees. Attorney Jensen commented they got a summary plan description which described the benefits but did not tell them, for example, that in ten years they would get "X" amount of money, because it all depended on salary. Attorney Jensen commented she had spent a lot of time trying to convince participants they could do that calculation themselves, but they preferred that it be done by someone else. Pension Coordinator McWilliams indicated employees did ask, but the Village could not provide the figures —that had to be done through the actuary, who provided annual benefit statements. Discussion ensured regarding benefit calculations. Even No Text Minutes of General Employees' Pension Trust Fund Board Meeting March 30, 2010 7 though there was a formula, employees preferred confirmation of their benefit amounts by someone handling the pension fund, and a third party administrator should have the software to provide the calculations. Board Member Terzakis suggested having a scheduled time once or twice a year for employees to request their benefit calculations. It was noted the Human Resources Director had held a session with the Bogdahn representative present for participants to come in to check their benefits. Refund of contributions now was done internally, but in the future an employee would contact a third party administrator directly. Chair Rhodes summarized that the time for the Members and Benefits section was variable. Plan Financials could be moved to the third party administrator, who could maintain the local checking account and write the checks, deal with the custodian, perform accounts payable and accounts receivable, prepare financial statements, and deal with the auditor. Finance Director Forsythe commented this did not add a tremendous burden in time for the Finance Department because it was day -to -day processing; she felt the bulk of time problems were with the Pension Coordinator's department. Chair Rhodes asked if the pension financial work was a burden for the Pension Coordinator —she responded she did not perform any of the financial duties. The Reports section was reviewed. Attorney Jensen commented the first report had nothing to do with this board, the second report, information report, was done behind the scenes by the Finance Department for the actuary, and the benefit statements came from the actuary. Secretary Hansen commented the items had been reviewed, and the question still stood whether the Board should invite the two companies which had expressed interest to make presentations at the May meeting. Board Member Terzakis asked Attorney Jensen to re- phrase her comment about the Village reimbursing pension costs. Attorney Jensen clarified that the requirement of the actuary when calculating the amount the Village had to put in included calculating normal cost, adding unfunded liability, and adding the administrative expenses. Whether the Village was paying for the services outside of the pension plan or within the pension plan, they were paying for the administrative expenses. Chair Rhodes commented he would appreciate everyone taking what they had heard today, going through each section and say whether or not they thought there was someone from the current team who could do each of these roles, or if it needed to be considered to be outsourced. He encouraged everyone to have an open mind about it, and to submit their individual observations to Pension Coordinator McWilliams for dissemination to the Board. He thought if each Board Member came up with their own observations and then could read everyone else's observations before the May meeting that would be value added for everyone to have their own impression of what should be done on this matter. Secretary Hansen asked if Chair Rhodes was asking that some items remain in- house; Chair Rhodes No Text Minutes of General Employees' Pension Trust Fund Board Meeting March 30, 2010 8 answered not necessarily in- house, and referred to Betty, who could do some of the items, thinking about who she would be accountable to on an ongoing basis, and maybe it could be an outside administrator. Secretary Hansen commented as to Pension Coordinator McWilliams' earlier comment that she hoped Betty could be involved with the third party administrator, he did not know how that could be done, but it could be discussed. He agreed he would like to see her having a part of that. Chair Rhodes commented the Board had a fiduciary role that was number one, and number two they needed to look at who could do what for them, and if it happened to be Betty that was fantastic, but it was time and accountability. Secretary Hansen commented any company picking up the Village Pension work might be considering hiring help with this. Chair Rhodes also pointed out the Village having control over cash versus a third party having that control was a risk factor. MOTION Board Member Mayo made a motion to invite the two firms to the next meeting to make presentations. Board Member Gload seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous 5 -0 vote. Chair Rhodes again requested each Board member to invest the time to review each item and provide their comments to Pension Coordinator McWilliams within one week. Secretary Hansen asked if the two companies had asked specifics of what was wanted from them, and if they needed Pension Coordinator McWilliams to supply something to them in order for them to come to make presentations. Pension Coordinator McWilliams responded she did not know because she had not worked with them at all. She was asked to do a scope of services which she had been going to work on, but Board Member Gload had had some questions, so she had spoken with them. Board Member Gload advised information had been sent to the companies. Chair Rhodes asked that the presentations be kept to 30 minutes and that books be provided in advance. Pension Coordinator McWilliams asked if Board Member Gload was going to send the updated list of duties to the companies. Board Member Gload asked that she go over the list with her since some things were duplicated. Chair Rhodes confirmed the list would be fine tuned and submitted to the companies and they would be told they were limited to a 30- minute presentation. Board Member Gload advised they had already sent their presentations to her. Chair Rhodes asked that all members of the team submit statements —Jody, Lori, Michelle, Monica, Bonnie, Betty. Chair Rhodes asked everyone to be open. Finance Director Forsythe indicated she would work with Board Member Gload and they would provide one statement from Finance. No Text Minutes of General Employees' Pension Trust Fund Board Meeting March 30, 2010 9 Secretary Hansen commented he was glad the special meeting had been held. Chair Rhodes commented he appreciated the Village Manager's good intentions regarding work load, but he felt the underlying implications must be considered, and asked Pension Coordinator McWilliams to convey that he would be more than happy to have a conversation with the Village Manager. XII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, upon motion by Board Member Mayo, seconded by Secretary Hansen, and unanimously carried, the meeting was adjourned at 10:16 a. m. Respectfully submitted, Betty Laur Recording Secretary No Text