At the regularly scheduled meeting of the Fire and Police Pension Fund Board of Directors held on the 21st day of January 2016, President Craig Joel presided. The meeting was held at the Pension Office, 6009 John Douglass Drive, Chattanooga, TN 37421.
The meeting convened at 0909 hours with board members Craig Joel, Kelly Simmons, Mark Coffman, Phillip McClain, Charlie Thomason, Tommy Meeks, Less Lee, and Vickie Haley. Attorney Bill Robinson was also present.
Motion by Mark Coffman and seconded by Charlie Thomason to approve the minutes of January 7, 2016 meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
Ron Boyd, representative of the Retiree Advisory Committee appeared before the Board to present the Committee’s recommendations to the Board regarding the addition of retired Firefighters/Police Officers to serve as Directors on the Pension Board. The Board discussed the proposal. Motion by Tommy Meeks and seconded by Less Lee to announce in the newsletter an open forum for members to discuss the proposal. The open forum is to be held on February 18, 2016 during the regularly scheduled Pension meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
Bill Robinson provided an update on the status of the current litigation. Mr. Robinson also discussed the process of obtaining an Internal Revenue Service Qualification Determination Letter for the Plan under Internal Revenue Code requirements. Kelly Simmons asked if the Plan had lost its IRS qualification and a new determination was required due to the 2014 Plan changes. Mr. Robinson stated that the IRS qualification and the 2014 Plan changes don’t have anything to do with each other. The Plan is seeking IRS qualification for the first time under urging from the IRS. The 2014 Plan changes are not pertinent, in and of themselves, to the IRS determination of the Plan’s tax exempt qualification.
Mr. Robinson also presented a proposed amendment to the Fund Administrator retirement plan. The amendments update the Administrator plan to bring its provisions in line with the 2012-2014 modifications of the Fire and Police Pension Plan. Mr. Robinson explained that the Administrator Plan was established for Frank Hamilton after the City declined to allow Frank remain sworn and be assigned to the Fund, and also declined to allow him to participate in the F&P Plan as a non-sworn Administrator. He also presented details of the Administrator plan, noting that its provisions are similar to the F&P Plan, but is offset by 1) the terminated-vested benefit received under the F&P Plan, and 2) the Social Security benefit received. The object is to put Frank in the same place he would have been in had he continued to work for the Police Department. It was noted that Frank voluntarily increased his employee contributions each year by 1% as sworn employees’ contributions increased. Motion by Phillip McClain and seconded by Mark Coffman to amend the Administrator plan. Motion carried unanimously.
Motion by Mark Coffman and seconded by Charlie Thomason to approve the following membership items:
REFUND CONTRIBUTIONS:
Former Police Officer Joshua Crespo, terminated 05/11/2015, participation date of 12/12/2014 (2-413)
Former Police Officer Sean Bulow, terminated 07/12/2015, participation date of 05/31/2013 (2-413)
Motion carried unanimously.
The Board reviewed the bills received since the last meeting. Phillip McClain asked that any bills which are placed on the agenda that include third-party billing have a breakdown of the third-party billing included in the bills that the Board reviews.
On January 15, 2016, Frank Hamilton emailed a review of the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (“COLA”), along with other primary meeting discussion documents, to all Board members and staff. The Board discussed the COLA and determined that the COLA formula as paid during 2015 is the most appropriate for future COLA calculations. Under the provisions of Chattanooga City Code 2-417(e), the current calendar year (2016) is the last year that the COLA will be paid as a quarterly dividend. Effective January 2017, the COLA will again compound and be included in the monthly benefit payment.
Non-Agenda Items:
Kelly Simmons expressed that he would like to receive more advance notice of information to aid in decision-making on items presented to the Board for voting.
Less Lee presented a proposed format for the Board’s report to City Council in accordance with Chattanooga City Code 2-424(b). The Board scheduled further discussion on 02/04/2016.
Motion by Mark Coffman and seconded by Phillip McClain to adjourn at 1108 hours. Motion carried unanimously.
Notes:
DROP Committee meeting today immediately following Board meeting
