The pension reform ball is in the court of the Police and Fire Pension Fund board’s court.
Whether the five-member board ends the match or returns serve will be determined over the next month. Wednesday’s special meeting served as a briefing, of sorts, to talk about how to tackle the newest iteration of the deal.
There are some initial concerns, starting with council’s demand for a quick turnaround decision.
As part of the bill, the fund’s board has until Jan. 15 to make a decision on the governance and benefits parts of reform. Given the holidays and large amounts of information, board members were concerned about time constraints.
“The timeframe doesn’t feel right,” said board member Nat Glover.
Board Chair Walt Bussells said he expects there will changes, though some issues such as governance, will have an easier time receiving three supporting votes.
Others, such as the city retaining its right to impose benefits during impasse and the changes to cost-of-living adjustments and the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, might need more discussion and even further changes should the board be unable to pass them.
Bussells said the format moving forward would be that each issue would be voted on separately. Those that pass move on, those that don’t can be replaced with something the board supports and sends back to council.
John Keane, fund administrator, told Bussells the newest deal “tossing” the 30-year agreement aside and those cost-of-living adjustments likely would be the most complex.
Despite the complexity, Keane offered encouragement.
“None of the proposal represents an insurmountable hurdle,” he told the board.
In the near future, board members will receive answers to some additional financial questions and the complete agreement to review before their next meeting Dec. 22.
Some of the issues could be voted on then, with others being pushed to a workshop sometime in January.
While the board didn’t take any action on pension, it did take up an issue the effectively wasn’t resolved last month.
During the November board meeting, the four members present deadlocked 2-2 on whether to provide a holiday bonus for retirees. A tie meant nothing passed. Glover wasn’t present at the last meeting.
He was there Wednesday and wanted to revisit the issue — the tie wasn’t right and there should be a decisive vote.
Board member Adam Herbert wasn’t at Wednesday’s meeting, but discussion showed some of the same factors that led to November’s stalemate.
Bussells said he wanted the additional funds available for current members who haven’t received raises in some time. Richard Tuten III, the firefighters’ representative, said many retirees don’t live lavish lifestyles and need the extra bump.
With Glover effectively swapped for Herbert, the vote was 3-1 to give retirees almost $2.2 million in bonuses in the next couple of weeks.
More than 2,000 retirees will receive the 3 percent bonus. The November vote rejected that, along with another to give a 1 percent bonus.
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