08/18/2014 Pension Trustees Meeting Minutes August 18, 2014
City of Clearwater
City Hall
112 S. Osceola Avenue
Clearwater, FL 33756
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Meeting Minutes
Monday, August 18, 2014
1 :00 PM
Council Chambers
Pension Trustees
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City of Clearwater
Pension Trustees Meeting Minutes August 18, 2014
Roll Call
Present 4 - Chair George N. Cretekos, Trustee Doreen Hock-DiPolito, Trustee
Bill Jonson, and Trustee Hoyt Hamilton
Absent 1 - Trustee Jay E. Polglaze
Also Present: William B. Horne 11 - City Manager, Jill S. Silverboard - Assistant City
Manager, Rod Irwin - Assistant City Manager, Pamela K. Akin - City
Attorney, Rosemarie Call - City Clerk, Nicole Sprague- Official Records
and Legislative Services Coordinator
To provide continuity for research, items are listed in agenda order although not necessarily
discussed in that order.
1. Call To Order— Chair Cretekos
The meeting was called to order at 1:05 p.m. at City Hall.
2. Approval of Minutes
2.1 Approve the minutes of the July 14, 2014 Pension Trustees meeting as submitted in
written summation by the City Clerk.
Trustee Jonson moved to approve the minutes of the July 14, 2014
Pension Trustees meeting as submitted in written summation by
the City Clerk. The motion was duly seconded and carried
unanimously.
3. Citizens to be Heard Regarding Items Not on the Agenda - None.
4. New Business Items
4.1 Approve the new hires for acceptance into the Pension Plan as listed.
Pension
Name, Job. Class, & Dept./Div. Elig. Date
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City of Clearwater
Pension Trustees Meeting Minutes August 18, 2014
Asia Crawley, Customer Service Rep, Customer Service Dept. 6/2/2014
Jodi Ward, Customer Service Rep, Customer Service Dept. 6/2/2014
Jennifer Moulton, Personnel Payroll Tech., Parks and Rec Dept. 6/2/2014
Jody Criswell, Water Distribution Oper. Trainee, Public Utilities Dept. 6/2/2014
Matthew D'Andrea, Water Distribution Oper.Trainee, Public Util Dept. 6/2/2014*
Nicole Fairweather, Solid Waste Equipment Oper., SW/GS Dept. 6/16/2014
Rashard Young, Solid Waste Worker, SW/GS Department 6/16/2014
Brittney Nikles, Legal Staff Assistant, Legal Department 6/16/2014
Marina Kiriyeva, Senior Programmer, Information Tech. Dept. 6/16/2014
Timothy Simecek, Systems Analyst, Information Technology Dept. 6/16/2014
Kyle Brotherton, Planner II, Planning and Development Dept. 6/16/2014
Ryan Dilley, Field Service Representative, Customer Service Dept. 6/16/2014**
Donna Cacciatore, Human Resources Analyst, Human Resources Dept 5/5/2014
Bryan Tingling, Solid Waste Worker, Solid Waste Department 5/5/2014***
Wayne Lindsey, Pool Guard, Parks and Recreation 5/17/2014****
Kyle Smith, Water Distribution Operator Trainee, Public Utilities Dept 5/19/2014
Ryan Washington, Solid Waste Worker, Solid Waste Department 5/19/2014*****
lesha Walker, Customer Service Representative, Customer Svc Dept 5/19/2014
Paul Anderson, Water Distribution Operator Trainee, Public Utilities Dept 5/19/2014
Katie See, Planner III, Planning and Development Services 5/19/2014
*Matthew D'Andrea was hired as a seasonal employee from 03/06-09/06,
rehired as a seasonal employee 05/02/13, then transferred to a full-time
permanent position as of 06/02/2014 and will be eligible for the pension plan as
of that date.
**Ryan Dilley was hired into a temporary position as of 06/25/12, transferred to
a permanent part time position as of 12/3/12 and into a full-time permanent
position as of 06/16/2014; he will be eligible for pension as of that date.
*** Bryan Tingling was hired as a temporary/emergency employee on
02/11/2014 and was transferred to a full time/permanent employee effective
05/05/2014; he will be eligible for the pension plan as of that date.
****Wayne Lindsey was hired as a seasonal employee on 04/03/2004 and
transferred to a full time/permanent status effective 05/17/2014; he will be
eligible for the pension plan as of that date.
***** Ryan Washington was hired as a temporary worker on 02/13/2014 and
was hired as a full time/permanent employee effective 05/19/2014 and will be
eligible for the pension plan as of that date.
Trustee Hock-DiPolito moved to approve the new hires for
acceptance into the Pension Plan as listed. The motion was duly
seconded and carried unanimously.
4.2 Approve the following request of employees Richard Bennett, Engineering Department,
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City of Clearwater
Pension Trustees Meeting Minutes August 18, 2014
David Jackson, Fire Department, Ralph Rowe, Planning and Development Department,
John Tierney, Solid Waste and General Services Department, Juan Torres, Police
Department, and Dane Whitt, Gas Department for a regular pension as provided by
Sections 2.416 and 2.424 of the Employees' Pension Plan.
Richard Bennett, Construction Inspector II, Engineering Department, was
employed by the City on July 26, 1982 and his pension service credit is
effective on that date. His pension will be effective August 1, 2014. Based on
an average salary of approximately $51,701.06 over the past five years, the
formula for computing regular pensions and Mr. Bennett's selection of the
100% Joint and Survivor Annuity, this pension benefit will be approximately
$44,358.12 annually.
David Jackson, Firefighter Driver-Operator, Fire Department, was employed by
the City on July 29, 1991 and his pension service credit is effective on that
date. His pension will be effective August 1, 2014. Based on an average
salary of approximately $59,979.95 over the past five years, the formula for
computing regular pensions, Mr. Jackson's selection of the 50% Joint and
Survivor Annuity with 20% partial lump sum distribution, this pension benefit
will be approximately $30,921.48 annually.
Ralph Rowe, Plans Examiner, Planning and Development Department, was
employed by the City on February 3, 1986 and his pension service credit is
effective on that date. His pension will be effective September 1, 2014. Based
on an average salary of approximately $64,244.11 over the past five years, the
formula for computing regular pensions and Mr. Rowe's selection of the 66
2/3% Joint and Survivor Annuity, this pension benefit will be approximately
$50,867.64 annually.
John Tierney, Warehouse Supervisor, Solid Waste General Services
Department, was employed by the City on May 15, 1995 and his pension
service credit is effective on that date. His pension will be effective July 1,
2014. Based on an average salary of approximately $60,374.41 over the past
five years, the formula for computing regular pensions and Mr. Tierney's
selection of the Single Life Annuity, this pension benefit will be approximately
$31,743.84 annually.
Juan Torres, Police Lieutenant, Police Department, was employed by the City
on December 30, 1991 and his pension service credit is effective on that date.
His pension will be effective October 1, 2014. Based on an average salary of
approximately $92,231.93 over the past five years, the formula for computing
regular pensions and Mr. Torres' selection of the 100% Joint and Survivor
Annuity, this pension benefit will be approximately $56,610 annually.
Dane Whitt, Gas Specialist, Gas Department, was employed by the City on
April 16, 1984 and his pension service credit is effective on that date. His
pension will be effective July 1, 2014. Based on an average salary of approximately
$54,501.46 over the past five years, the formula for computing regular pensions and
Mr. Whitt's selection of the Single Life Annuity with a 10% partial lump sum
distribution, this pension benefit will be approximately $40,684.80 annually.
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City of Clearwater
Pension Trustees Meeting Minutes August 18, 2014
Section 2.416 provides for normal retirement eligibility for non-hazardous duty
employees hired prior to the effective date of this reinstatement (January 1,
2013), a member shall be eligible for retirement following the earlier of the date
on which a participant has reached the age of fifty-five years and completed
twenty years of credited service; the date on which a participant has reached
age sixty-five years and completed ten years of credited service; or the date on
which a member has completed thirty years of service regardless of age. For
non-hazardous duty employees hired on or after the effective date of this
restatement, a member shall be eligible for retirement following the earlier of
the date on which a participant has reached the age of sixty years and
completed twenty-five years of credited service; or the date on which a
participant has reached the age of sixty-five years and completed ten years of
credited service. Mr. Rowe, Mr. Tierney, and Mr. Whitt have met the
non-hazardous duty criteria.
Section 2.416 provides for normal retirement eligibility for hazardous duty
employees, a member shall be eligible for retirement following the earlier of the
date on which the participant has completed twenty years of credited service
regardless of age, or the date on which the participant has reached fifty-five
years and completed ten years of credited service. Mr. Jackson and Mr.
Torres have met the hazardous duty criteria.
Trustee Hamilton moved to approve the following request of
employees Richard Bennett, Engineering Department, David
Jackson, Fire Department, Ralph Rowe, Planning and Development
Department, John Tierney, Solid Waste and General Services
Department, Juan Torres, Police Department, and Dane Whitt, Gas
Department for a regular pension as provided by Sections 2.416
and 2.424 of the Employees' Pension Plan. The motion was duly
seconded and carried unanimously.
4.3 Approve the Molpus Woodlands Fund IV subscription agreement and authorize the
appropriate officials to execute same.
In February of 2011 the trustees approved the pension plan hiring Molpus
Woodlands Group as one of two timber managers. At that time the pension
plan joined Molpus Woodlands Fund III (Molpus III).
Molpus III is a closed end limited partnership IE the partnership has a life of
eight to ten years. The funding period of Molpus III in now closed and no
additional monies will be sent from the plan to Molpus III. Because of the
exceptional performance of Molpus III the pension plan has already received
significant cash distributions from Molpus III. The cash distributions and the
funding that Molpus III did not utilize come to about two million dollars.
The plan's other timber manager is Hancock Timber Resources Group.
Hancock has just under one year left on their funding period. To date
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City of Clearwater
Pension Trustees Meeting Minutes August 18, 2014
Hancock has been funded with just over half the eight million allocated to
Hancock has been utilized. It is unknown how much of the remaining funding
Hancock will draw.
The pension plan added the timber managers to dampen performance
volatility. In assets classes such as timber there is a "J" curve effect on
performance in that during the early years there is negative performance. The
following is the performance of our two timber managers.
Timber Performance
One Year Inception
Molpus 15.03% 4.78%
Hancock 11.69% 9.22%
Benchmark 9.78% NA
To have a dampening effect on volatility the pension plan needs to have a
continuing allocation to timber. Give the funding levels of the current timber
allocations the pension investment committee considers it prudent to make a
five million dollar allocation to Molpus IV the new fund for Molpus Woodlands
Group. Molpus IV is in the final subscription phase. Five million dollars is the
minimum in Molpus IV. Molpus IV is identical to Molpus III except for one item.
Molpus IV allow for up to 20% leverage. This was added because of the
current low interest rate environment where Molpus can borrow against timber
land at a 3% rate while trees grow in value 8-12% a year.
Molpus Woodlands Group charges an annual management fee of 100 basis
points and an incentive fee of 15% on returns greater than 7%. Molpus also
charges pass through fees for administration, accounting, acquisition, disposal,
legal and harvest supervision. This fee structure is about average for this
asset class.
As always the pension investment committee is looking at the investment
landscape and feels very strongly that now is an excellent time to invest in
timber.
Trustee Jonson moved to approve the Molpus Woodlands Fund IV
subscription agreement and authorize the appropriate officials to
execute same. The motion was duly seconded and carried
unanimously.
4.4 Approve not-to-exceed expenditure of$13,000 to Gabriel Roeder Smith and Company
for evaluation of a change in actuarial cost method and preparation of a formal
funding policy, and authorize the appropriate officials to execute same.
The implementation of Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)
Statement 68 in fiscal 2015 will require the City to use the entry age normal
(EAN) actuarial cost method for the City's financial statements and related
disclosures at year-end.
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City of Clearwater
Pension Trustees Meeting Minutes August 18, 2014
The plan currently uses the frozen entry-age (FEA) actuarial cost method for
actuarial valuations used for funding of the plan. While implementation of
GASB 68 will still allow the plan to use the FEA method for funding purposes
(EAN only required for financial statements, not funding), it may be in the
plan's best interests to use the same EAN method for both financial statements
and funding.
Staff recommends hiring the plan's actuary to evaluate the impact of changing
from the FEA method to the EAN method. This would include ten-year
projections for the plan under both the FEA and EAN methods.
Additionally, the scope of work would include creation of a formal funding
policy for the plan. The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has
recently published a best practice recommendation that"every state and local
government that offers defined benefit pensions" formally adopt a funding
policy.
A formal funding policy documents key assumptions and methods, such as
actuarial cost, asset smoothing, and amortization methods, and typically also
defines how often demographic and economic assumptions should be
re-evaluated. It essentially serves as a long term road map for the pension plan
to help ensure that the cost of benefits will be funded in an equitable and
sustainable manner.
APPROPRIATION CODE AND AMOUNT:
0646-07410-530100-585-000-0000 $13,000.00
In response to questions, Finance Director Jay Ravins said the assumption
changes previously approved by the Trustees did not implement the EAN
method. Each year, the actuary has presented the actuary report on the old
FEA method and presented information on the comparable EAN method.
GASB recommends adopting a formal funding policy. The EAN method
changes how the City's contribution is calculated. Efforts will be made to
maintain conservative risks to obtain similar results.
Trustee Hock-DiPolito moved to approve not-to-exceed expenditure
of $13,000 to Gabriel Roeder Smith and Company for evaluation of
a change in actuarial cost method and preparation of a formal
funding policy, and authorize the appropriate officials to execute
same. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously.
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City of Clearwater
Pension Trustees
5. Adjourn
Attest
City Clerk
Meeting Minutes August 18, 2014
The meeting adjourned at 1 :16 p.m.
City of Clearwater
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Chair
Employees' Pension Plan Trustees
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