HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Fire Pension 072821CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS
FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION BOARD OF TRUSTEES
QUARTERLY MEETING MINUTES
City Hall, Council Chambers
10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
Wednesday, July 28, 2021, at 1:OOPM
TRUSTEES PRESENT: Mike Zingaro
Rick Rhodes
Jon Currier
Frank Spitalny
Eric Bruns
TRUSTEES ABSENT: None
OTHERS PRESENT: Michelle Rodriguez, Foster & Foster
Siera Feketa, Foster & Foster
John Thinnes, AndCo Consulting
Pedro Herrera, Sugarman and Susskind
1. Call to Order — Rick Rhodes called the meeting to order at 1:03pm.
2. Roll Call — As reflected above.
3. Public Comments — None.
4. Approval of Minutes
The Board approved the April 28, 2021, quarterly meeting minutes, upon motion by Jon Currier and
second by Eric Bruns: motion carried 5-0.
5. New Business
a. Proposed 2021-2022 Budget
i. Siera Feketa reviewed the requirement to prepare the proposed budget and the
expenditure types that were increased.
The Board approved the Proposed 2021-2022 Budget, upon motion by Eric Bruns and second by
Jon Currier: motion carried 5-0.
Pension Seminar discussion
i. Siera Feketa commented she received a request from Jon Currier to hold a
pension seminar.
ii. The Board discussed which consultants were present at the last seminar. Jon
Currier commented they had Foster & Foster, the plan attorney, ICMA-RC, and
Human Resources present.
iii. Jon Currier commented he would send a notice out the members in advance of
the seminar to gather questions for the consultants so the consultants could
prepare their presentations based on the members questions.
iv. Jon Currier commented he may want to hold the seminar on a date that did not fall
on the next meeting date since the members who were interested in attending may
not be available on that date. Siera Feketa commented that would be fine, but
there would be costs incurred by other consultants to attend as it would be an
additional trip.
v. Siera Feketa and the Board discussed the consultants that would need to be in
attendance. Siera commented she could attend and if members had questions for
the attorney or actuary she could get them answered following the workshop. Rick
Rhodes commented he preferred to not spend as much in consultant attendance
and thought that would work.
vi. Rick Rhodes commented Jon Currier could get with Siera Feketa on the best date
and Siera could let the Board know when it would be held.
6. Old Business
a. Rick Rhodes commented he had a question for Doug Lozen regarding the salary that was
reported to him from the City. Rick commented he wanted to make sure the salary that was
reported to the State included DROP members.
b. Michelle Rodriguez reviewed the payroll that was provided to the State for state monies
calculations commenting it was separate than what was reported for the valuation. Michelle
commented the administrator requests the salary for the Annual Report.
c. The Board, Pedro Herrera, Siera Feketa, and Michelle Rodriguez discussed the payroll
and how to ensure it was properly being applied.
d. Siera Feketa commented her office was working on creating a form to ensure they were
getting all payroll.
e. Michelle Rodriguez commented the payroll was reported on a calendar year basis.
f. Michelle Rodriguez, Siera Feketa, Pedro Herrera, and the Board discussed the staffs
payroll that should be included/excluded.
g. Michelle Rodriguez commented she forwarded the payroll the City provided to the Board
for their review.
h. Pedro Herrera commented there was a way they could breakdown the payroll and
include/exclude certain things to make it a higher number.
7. Reports
a. AndCo Consulting, John Thinnes, Investment Consultant
i. Quarterly report through June 30, 2021
1. John Thinnes reviewed the market environment for the quarter.
2. John Thinnes reviewed the treasury yield curve and what that meant
commenting they would keep an eye on inflation.
3. John Thinnes reviewed the schedule of investable assets.
4. The market value of assets as of June 30, 2021 was $141,335,466.
5. John Thinnes reviewed the asset allocation commenting the plan had
performed very well with the help of prudent decisions made by the
Board.
6. John Thinnes reviewed the financial reconciliation.
7. John Thinnes commented he was hopeful they would close the books
with a strong Fiscal -Year -End return.
8. The total fund gross returns for the quarter were 5.40%, slightly
underperforming the benchmark of 5.78%. The total fund trailing gross
returns for the 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10-year periods were 25.71 %, 11.71 %,
11.68%, 9.21% and 9.86% respectively. Since inception (May 01, 1998),
total fund gross returns were 6.98%, slightly outperforming the
benchmark of 6.96%.
9. John Thinnes reviewed the returns of the investment managers.
10. Mike Zingaro asked if there was something they should be changing if
inflation was not transitory. John Thinnes gave an overview of the impact
of inflation commenting even if it was not transitory, at this time there
was no action that needed to be taken.
b. Sugarman and Susskind, Pedro Herrera, Plan Attorney
i. Summary Plan Description (SPD)
1. Pedro Herrera reviewed the SPD and the changes that were made to the
SPD along with its purpose.
2. Jon Currier reviewed the frozen leave balance that was included in
pensionable wages. Pedro Herrera, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jon Currier
discussed how the leave balances were included in Average Final
Compensation (AFC) and why the language was written the way it was.
Jon commented he felt it should be included in the language so that it
could only be included once and not sold back and included annually.
2
Pedro Herrera commented for pension purposes they were only allowed
to bank a certain amount to be included in the AFC and he could include
additional language for clarification.
3. The Board discussed that members could sell time back annually, but only
the September 13, 2012 balance would be included in the AFC upon
retirement. Pedro Herrera commented the language in the SPD could be
further clarified.
4. The Board discussed changing the language to say "as of rather than "up
to" the balance on September 13, 2012. Pedro Herrera commented he
would make that correction.
5. Pedro Herrera and Mike Zingaro discussed the Cost -of -Living -Adjustment
(COLA) language and how the COLA was applied for blended COLAs.
Michelle Rodriguez commented they would check with the actuary to
confirm.
& Pedro Herrera and Jon Currier discussed how the early retirement
reduction worked.
7. Rick Rhodes discussed adding something to note what the pension fund
earned in the year to page 11. Pedro Herrera reviewed the actuarial fact
sheet that the actuary would prepare to be included with the SPD.
8. Rick Rhodes commented he did not want to wait for another meeting to
approve the SPD. Pedro Herrera commented the Board could approve the
SPD with revisions contingent upon final approval by the Chairman and
the plan administrator.
9. Eric Bruns asked how often the SPD was updated. Pedro Herrera
commented it should be updated every two years, but they were waiting
on union negotiations, so they were almost a year behind.
10. Eric Bruns suggested adding the contact phone number and email for the
plan administrator.
The Board approved the SPD with discussed revisions contingent upon final review of plan
attorney, plan administrator, and the Chairman upon motion by Jon Currier and second by Mile
Zingaro, motion carried 5-0
11. Pedro Herrera commented all trustees needed to file their financial
disclosure forms. Siera Feketa commented everyone had filed.
12. Pedro Herrera commented the State earmarked a portion of their budget
for first responders. Pedro commented each eligible firefighter should be
getting a $1,000.00 check and reviewed the eligibility requirements.
Note: Eric Bruns left at 1:52pm.
13. Pedro Herrera recommended checking to make sure everyone who was
eligible was included on the list to the State.
Note: Eric Bruns returned at 1:53pm,
8. Consent Agenda
a. Payment ratification
i. Warrant #43, #44 and #45
b. Payment approval
i. None
c. Fund activity report for April 22, 2021 through July 21, 2021
The Board approved the Consent Agenda as presented upon motion by Jon Currier and second by
Frank Spltalny, motion carried 5-0
9. Staff Reports, Discussions and Action
a. Foster & Foster, Michelle Rodriguez/Siera Feketa, Plan Administrator
i. Michelle Rodriguez commented she would still be working on the plan, but Siera
would be the lead and main point of contact moving forward.
ii. Update on SB534 posting requirements
1. Siera Feketa gave an overview of the SB534 posting requirements
commenting they were posted to the City's website.
iii. Siera Feketa commented they sent the Ordinance to include the CARES Act to the
City, but they had not received a response. Pedro Herrera commented he received
some questions regarding the Ordinance from the City. Pedro commented the City
was asking why the plan was including it and he informed them of the reasons and
the fact that it was a no cost item. Michelle Rodriquez asked that Pedro forward
the email he received.
iv. Upcoming educational opportunities
1. Siera Feketa reviewed the FPPTA Fall Trustee School, October 3-6, 2021
being held in Ponte Vedra, FL.
2. Pedro Herrera reviewed the Division of Retirement 50th Annual Police
Officers' & Firefighters' Pension Conference from November 3-5, 2021 in
Orlando, FL.
v. Siera Feketa commented she worked with John Thinnes to raise cash in the
amount of $500,000.00 to make benefit payments.
10. Trustee's Reports, Discussion and Action
a. Frank Spitalny commented he was moving, and he believed it was outside of the City limits.
Pedro Herrera commented he could remain on the Board until he moved, and the
administrator could notify the City to appoint someone else in October when he moved.
11. Adiournment — The meeting was adjourned at 2:02pm.
12. Next Meeting — October 27, 2021, at 1:OOpm, quarterly meeting.
Respectfully submitted by:
Michelle Rodriguez, Plan Adm ini strator
Approv y:
Jon rrier, Secre ary
Date Approved by the Pension Board: l� V2-I I-Z uz (
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