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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-11-30 Minutes• • • MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE FIRE PENSION BOARD A meeting of the Fayetteville Firemen's Pension and Relief Board was held on Thursday, November 30, 1995, at 11:00 a.m. in room 326 of the City Administration Building, 113 W. Mountain, Fayetteville, Arkansas. PRESENT: Mayor Fred Hanna, Marion Doss, Ron Wood, Darrell Judy, Pete Reagan, lIoward Boudrey, and City Clerk/Treasurer Traci Paul. Senfr• NowgRb BOU1:21cEY CALL TO ORDER Mayor Hanna called the meeting to order. MINUTES Reagan, seconded by Doss, made a motion to approve the minutes of the October 26, regular meeting. The motion passed unanimously. PENSION LIST In answer to a question from Mayor Hanna, Paul stated there were no changes in the pension list. Wood asked how often the pension list is checked for the status of each retiree. Wood explained he had been questioned about Barnes and Lain. Mayor Hanna stated there is not a current position responsible for keeping up with the retirees. Mayor Hanna suggested it is the responsibility of the Fire Pension Board to stay informed. Reagan reminded the Board that affidavits are mailed each year to each pension beneficiary. The affidavits must be signed and notarized. Doss stated he had not heard anything about Barnes or Lain. Doss stated he would check on their status. Mayor Hanna stated the Board could appoint a committee to keep up with the status of the retirees. Doss stated the word usually gets around when someone passes away. Reagan, seconded by Doss, made a motion to approve the December pension list. The motion passed unanimously. • • • OLD BUSINESS November 30, 1995 SCHEDULE OF TRANSACTIONS - REPORT Administrative Services Director Ben Mayes stated the schedule of transactions was prepared at the request of the Board. Mayes explained that the schedule shows the cash receipts in and the disbursements out. Mayes pointed out that the Board was also given an attachment of all the bank statements through 1995. Mayes stated some transfers go to Merrill Lynch and some come from Merrill Lynch. Every week the City takes competitive bids from various banks in town and then invests money in T-bills. By making the investments, the City is trying to keep the investments earning more than what they earn in an interest baring checking account. Sometimes there is a very short period of time to invest money. A wire transfer out means that money was wired to the bank for bid and then when it comes back in it is cashed out to the extent that it was required for pension payments. Once a year, the Accounting Division wires the State Insurance Turnback money to Merrill Lynch. Each month, the Accounting Division does a cash flow to determine the amount of money needed for pension checks and the amount of money that is expected to come in. Mayes stated Emma Badgley in the Accounting Division has explained the procedure for the wire transfers to Richard Yada. If money is wired to Merrill Lynch and they wire it back, they charge $20.00. Emma has made the smaller investments to keep from wiring to Merrill Lynch every time. We try not to do unnecessary wiring. We try to only wire larger amounts. In answer to a question from Mayor Hanna regarding the flow of funds, Mayes stated they all go to the pension fund only. In answer to another question from Mayor Hanna regarding the investment rates for pension funds as compared to rates for other city investments, Mayes stated they are invested at the same rate. The last investment was at 5.3% - 5.6%, depending on the number of days. Most of the terms for the pension funds are very short. In answer to a question from Mayor Hanna regarding investments rates through Merrill Lynch, Mayes explained he did not know Merrill Lynch's current rates. Mayes stated Merrill Lynch does a better job, longer term. Rates for shorter term investments handled by the City are just about as good as what Merrill Lynch could do and there is no wire charge. Mayes stated there is usually only one or two months pension payments on hand at a time. • • • November 30, 1995 Discussion ensued regarding the reasons for the questions from Richard Yada. In answer to a question from Reagan, Mayes stated the City does pool investments to get a better rate. The funds are marked separately and specifically tracked. Pooling investments gives greater flexibility. Reagan stated at one time there were some problems with comingling funds. There seemed to be a resolution against comingling passed by the Fire Pension Board. Mayes stated investments are tracked separately and insurance is separate on them all. Three or four years ago a new investment policy was created. PENSION INCREASE - LETTER OF EXPLANATION Paul stated, as requested by the Board, a letter was mailed to each person on the pension list explaining the increase that some of the volunteers received. In answer to a question from Doss, Paul stated letters were mailed on November 21. DROP PLAN Reagan requested the DROP plan be placed on the next agenda. He explained he and City Attorney Jerry Rose plan to meet during the next week. NEW BUSINESS INVESTMENT REPORT Mayor Hanna asked if the report faxed from Merrill Lynch had arrived. Paul stated she had not received the fax yet. In answer to a question from Reagan, Mayor Hanna stated he was not getting copies of the transactions. Mayor Hanna stated it may be going to the accountants. OTHER BUSINESS U OF A VISITORS Mayor Hanna recognized a group of visitors in the audience. Paul explained the visitors are from a journalism class from the University. November 30, 1995 DECEMBER MEETING Reagan asked if the next meeting is scheduled for December 28. Paul stated it was the last Thursday in December and agreed that it was December 28. Mayor Hanna asked the Board if they wanted to meet on that day. The Board agreed to meet as scheduled. Mayor Hanna stated he may not be present due to the holidays. The meeting adjourned at 11:40 a.m. NOTE: The City Clerk received a faxed summary of the portfolio performance as of November 29, 1995 from Merrill Lynch shortly after the meeting adjourned. The Board reviewed and briefly discussed the information.