by David Chapman
Staff Writer
The dynamics of pension plans. Unfunded liabilities. Risk assessment. Revenues and funding sources.
All are keywords and phrases one might hear coming from a typical board room meeting in any business, but for members of Jacksonville Community Council Inc.’s “Our Money, Our City: Financing Jacksonville’s Future” study, the words – and many other finance-related phrases – have entered their lexicon and become a point of emphasis since October.
The “Our Money, Our City” study is the latest project for the community improvement-focused civic organization, with results to show recommendations on how the City should best approach local government financing while maintaining sustainability and community expectations. Similar studies were done by the organization in 1977 and 1992.
What sets study meetings like “Our Money, Our City” apart from normal board room or study meetings is the community interaction.
“All of these meetings are open to the public,” said Skip Cramer, JCCI executive director. “It’s a group discussion and much of the feedback can be valuable.”
Though the topics, such as recent meetings regarding City employee pension plans, can be complex, much background and alternative sources of recommendations and information are provided through handouts that often help guide the meeting.
“Pound for pound the most successful study ever,” joked JCCI “Our Money, Our City” study chair J.F. Bryan IV, referring to a thick collection of handouts presented during the recent meeting regarding pensions.
Pensions have been the focus for the past several weeks as actuary Michael Tierney discussed the elements of pension plans including unfunded liability and risk assessment moving forward, while City Chief Financial Officer Mickey Miller and Dick Cohee of the Police and Fire Pension Fund discussed their different perspectives – from past and present to future needs – of the plans.
Following presentations, the audience is afforded time for a question and answer session with the presenter to dive in on their particular subject. Tierney was able to field around a dozen questions – ranging from asking what other cities are doing and asking for an opinion on a solution to the City’s pension problem – while Cohee and Miller were able to field around a dozen combined, focusing on particulars and seeking an opinion for a pension solution.
On par with its listening and comprehensive approach, Bryan then seeks input from the audience on what was learned and accomplished during the meeting while also letting members divulge problem areas on what still needed to be learned about the topic.
The latest meetings have been attended by several dozen people, with many walking away with a greater understanding of the topics and able to contribute to the study.
“Oh they’re great,” said JCCI member Edgar Mathis, who attended the Cohee/Miller presentation. “I always learn a lot and these meetings are a tremendous opportunity to help solve a problem.”
Final recommendations from the study are scheduled to be presented in late April, with a public release date yet to be determined.
“A lot of time and effort go into all of our studies,” said Cramer. “Like other JCCI studies before it, we believe this one (the “Our Money, Our City” study) will make a difference.”
For more information on the study and JCCI meetings, go to www.jcci.org.
The most recent Jacksonville Community Council Inc. study, “Our Money, Our City: Financing Jacksonville’s Future” will address the City’s approach to financial sustainability while also meeting community expectations through:
• Examining current City government revenues and explore alternative revenue streams.
• Identifying the core services and responsibilities of the City, including pension plans structure and unfunded and underfunded liabilities of the City.
• Reviewing authorities and business-type activities.
• Exploring direct services and City funding of private nonprofits.
• Examining the current debt structure, financial management of capital assets, investment policy and contingency plans.
• Recommending ways local government could effectively address the City funding crisis, become sustainable into the next decade and beyond and provide transparency and management accountability of the budgetary process to all citizens.
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