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03-11-2019CITY OF EDGEWATER FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION BOARD QUARTERLY MEETING MINUTES City Hall Council Chambers Monday, March 11, 2019 at 4:00pm TRUSTEES PRESENT: Herb Epstein Richard D. Calabrese Sr. David Blair Justin Nickels TRUSTEES ABSENT: Dominick Fede OTHERS PRESENT: Ken Harrison, Sugarman & Susskind John Thinnes, AndCo Consulting David Kelly, Bowen Hanes and Company Michelle Rodriguez, Foster & Foster Doug Lozen, Foster & Foster Siera Feketa, Foster & Foster Julie Christine, City of Edgewater William Daley, Edgewater Fire Tracey Barlow, Retiree of the plan Jill Danigel, Retiree of the plan Members of the public Members and Retirees of the plan 1. Call to Order — Justin Nickels called the meeting to order at 4:02pm. 2. Roll Call — As reflected above. Public Comments a. William Daley requested clarification of the pension benefits negotiation process. Ken Harrison advised him that pension benefits were negotiated between the Union and the City. William requested information regarding recent benefit improvements and Ken commented that the best way to get the cost and value of improvements was through an actuarial impact study. b. Ken commented the Union could request the board to pay for the cost of the studies. Justin Nickels reviewed previous studies that were paid for by the board. c. William Daley requested data from other pension plans and Ken Harrison referred him to the Division of Retirement website. d. Tracey Barlow thanked the board for their service and requested that retirees be included in benefit improvements. e. Jill Danigel stated that she had the same request as Tracey Barlow and offered to be the liaison between the retirees and the board. Jill commented she would like to see a Cost - of -Living Adjustment (COLA) study done for retirees. f. Doug Lozen commented the pension board should direct the actuary to communicate directly with the Union in order to make things more efficient. g. William Daley commented he felt current retirees should receive any benefit changes that active firefighters received. William commented that he was not in favor of the COLA_ Justin Nickels advised him to bring any requests for cost studies directly to the board. 4. Approval of Minutes The December 11, 2018 quarterly meeting minutes were approved, upon motion by David Blair and second from Richard Calabrese,• motion carried 4-0. 5. New Business a. Update on vacant trustee seat i. Michelle Rodriguez advised the board that Herb Epstein won the election for the member elected seat. Michelle commented there was one application for the council appointed seat and they should be appointed at the next council meeting on April 01, 2019. The board accepted the results of the election for the member elected seat upon motion by Richard Calabrese and second by David Blair,• motion carried 4-0. 6. Old Business a. 300 hour overtime and Average Final Compensation i. Justin Nickels requested an update on the 300 hour overtime issue. Ken Harrison commented that there was a lot of back and forth on this topic and recalled that the old City Manager had agreed to it, but by the time it was sent to the City for approval, the City administration had changed, and they did not agree with the 300 hour overtime rule. ii. Ken Harrison commented the State ruled that this issue was not included in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and that it was up to local governments to make determinations for their own plans. iii. Tracey Barlow offered to be a liaison between the board and the City. iv. Julie Christine commented that this came up with the City when they had an interim City Manager. v. William Daley requested that the Ordinance not be changed until this issue was resolved. vi. Ken Harrison suggested this issue be tabled for the next meeting and the board agreed. Reports a. Bowen Hanes Investment, David Kelly, Investment Manager i. Investment Summary, December 31, 2018 1. David Kelly reviewed the past quarter and commented even though this last quarter was a bad one they have only had 47 bad months out of a total of 131. 2. Justin Nickels asked if David Kelly thought they would hit double digits again. David said he did not but commented they could very well hit the assumed rate of return, 3. David Kelly reviewed the portfolio summary and commented that there was always more in bonds than in cash. 4. The market value as of December 31, 2018, was $13,024,818.95. The total portfolio return for the period ending December 31, 2018 was -10.7%. Since inception (6120107) the total portfolio return was 5.60%. 5. David Kelly reviewed the history of the portfolio and commented that they have made $7 million for the plan. AndCo, John Thinnes, Investment Consultant i. December 31, 2018, Quarterly Report 1, John Thinnes commented the board would be sent a survey for them to complete. AndCo would use the information to identify areas of improvement. 2. John reviewed the past quarter and commented the plan portfolio was invested 73% in equity and 20% in fixed income. 3. The market value assets as of December 31, 2018, were $13,115,412. The quarter -to -date total fund gross performance was -10.66%, underperforming the policy benchmark of -7.99%. The 1, 3, and 5 -year trailing returns were -3.89%, 7.59%, and 5.99%, respectively. Since inception (1211101), the return was 5.85%, slightly underperforming the benchmark of 6.18%. John Thinnes reviewed the compliance checklist and commented there were no recommendations for changes at this time. The board voted to approve the AndCo report as resented upon motion by Richard Calabrese and second by Herb Epstein; motion carried 4-0. c. Foster & Foster, Doug Lozen, Plan Actuary i. Actuarial Valuation 1. Doug Lozen commented the plan received a net favorable experience overall and was 100% funded. 2. The minimum required contribution reflected as a percentage of projected annual payroll was 33.1%. The City and State required contribution as a percentage of projected annual payroll was 27.1%. The State contribution was $55,292, roughly 3.6% as a percent of payroll. The City required contribution went up from 20.5% to 23.5% as a percent of payroll_ 3. Doug Lozen commented that the unfunded liability was in the negative at 103.2% and reviewed the factors that influenced the plan's funded status. 4. Doug Lozen advised the board an experience study be done to look at the assumptions in total because pieces of the unfunded liability will be paid off in the near future. 5. Justin Nickels asked if the experience study would have an impact on future valuations. Doug Lozen commented he didn't think they would change much, but they should still have the experience study done. He commented that they may want to evaluate the assumed rate of return, which was currently 7.5%, and the average was now 7.3%. 6. Doug Lozen commented an investment loss from ten years ago would be falling off and the City's contributions would drop by 7%. Doug explained when the market dropped ten years ago, the plan opted to spread the loss out. Justin Nickels commented the City's contributions would be lowered much faster than initially expected. The board approved the Actuarial Valuation upon motion bV Herb Epstein and second bV David Blair- motion carried 4-0. The board voted the declaration of returns for the plan shall be 7.50% for the next Vear, the next several years, and the long-term thereafter, net of investment related expenses upon motion by Richard Calabrese and second by Herb Epstein; motion carried 4-0. 7. Justin Nickels and Doug Lozen discussed when the experience study should be done. Doug suggested it be done now and the cost would not exceed the last experience study. The board approved the actuary to perform an experience study not to exceed the cost of the last one upon motion by Herb Epstein and second by David Blair; motion carried 4-0. 8. William Daley requested a clarification of the experience study and the assumptions. Doug Lozen commented that some recommended assumption changes would be included in the experience study and commented that this was due to various factors including the firefighter's relatively low salary increases. William asked if the study would show the probability of the increase in retirees and Doug commented the actuaries use historical information rather than trying to project future numbers of retirees. d. Sugarman & Susskind, Ken Harrison, Board Attorney i. Legislative update ii. Ken Harrison commented for the first time in ten years, there were no bills that would directly affect local law plans. Ken gave a brief overview of the public records bill and commented most of the changes would impact the Florida Retirement System (FRS). iii. Ordinance Amendments 1. Ken Harrison commented this was discussed earlier in the meeting. 2. At the request of Justin Nickels, Ken Harrison reviewed the role of the Board of Trustees versus the role of the Union with regard to benefit changes. 8. Consent Agenda a. Payment ratification i. Warrant #49, #50 and #51 b. Fund activity report for December 5, 2018 through March 4, 2019. The board voted to approve the consent agenda as presented, upon motion by Richard Calabrese and second by David Blair, motion carried 4-0. 9. Staff Reports, Discussion, and Action a. Foster & Foster, Michelle Rodriguez, Plan Administrator i. FPPTA Guest Registration 1. Michelle Rodriguez reviewed the revised guest fee policy and Ken Harrison advised the board that the plan could not pay any guest fees. ii. Update on State Annual Report 1. Michelle Rodriguez updated the board on the progress of the State Annual Report. iii. Upcoming Educational Opportunities 1. Michelle Rodriguez reviewed upcoming educational opportunities available to the board. 10. Trustees' Reports, Discussion, and Action a. William Daley requested that the board make a motion for Doug Lozen to directly communicate with the Union. The board authorized the actuary to directly communicate with representatives of the Union upon motion by Herb Epstein and second by Richard Calabrese, motion carried 4-0. 11. Adjournment — Meeting adjourned at 5:39pm. 12. Next Meetin — June 10, 2019, at 4:00pm. Respectfully submitted by.- Michelle y:Michelle Rodrigo z, Plan dmi a or Approv d by: stin Nickels, Secretary Date Approved by the Pension Board: !a