2018 GRFFRA YEAR IN REVIEW

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1 (REV) 2018 GRFFRA YEAR IN REVIEW What has happened this past year, we thought it would be a good time to reflect on those important issues of All of these are important in one way or another and each impact us in different ways. That being said let s just take a walk through the events and news of the past year FROM THIS TO...THIS THE NUMBERS ARE IN.. We have a total of 291 Pensioners according to the Pension Board. Of those we have 35 Pre-1989 Retiree/Spouses who are not eligible for the negotiated MCSTF and are receiving assistance from the GR Bldg. Corp. The remaining 256 Pensioners we have 90 Retirees and 17 Surviving Spouses for a total of 107 Eligible MediCare Supplement Trust Fund Participants beginning 2019 (there will be an additional 8 eligible retirees through Of the remaining Pensioners (149 at the start of 2019) they are below the age of 65 years. MARK YOUR CALENDARS 2019 RETIREES BREAKFAST MEETING - MAY 9:30 AM OCTOBER 15, 9:30 AM FIREFIGHTERS HALL - NO RESERVATIONS NEEDED BREAKFAST BY CHEF HAYDEN & HIS CREW (pg 1 of 8)

2 Unfortunately we lost a number of our good friends and family members - 10 Firefighter Retirees have moved on to a higher calling (HFD - Heavens Fire Department) and 2 Retirees Spouses, they will Always be Remembered and Never Forgotten (see list below). Those who have left us.. Charles Ed Wright - # Jan. Ken Nikodemski - # Jan. Jack Nowack - # March Keith KC Bonn - # March Dave Cross - # April Jack Lentz - # July Vic Marsh - # July Ron Lamb - # November Robert Bob Prus - # November Jim VanDuinen # December SPOUSES.. Dawn Simonis - July Teresa Rohloff - August On the other end of life s spectrum we have welcomed 15 New Firefighter Retirees this past year and it is nice to see them reach this chapter in their life, ENJOY. **Remember to send your contact information in for the communication database** Those new who have joined our organization.. Amber Paszkowski - 1/18 Steven Chicklon - 1/18 Margaret Felix - 3/18 John Frederick - 4/18 Mark Rinkevicz - 5/18 Steven Kutchins - 5/18 Gregory Wemple - 05/27/18 Brian Brewer - 7/18 Mike Lundeen - 7/18 Nancy Boss - 7/18 Mark Radius 8/18 Jeffrey Bajema - 9/18 Larry Hayden - 10/18 James Hillman - 11/18 Randy Bosch - 11/18 NOW GET YOUR SCHEDULES STRAIGHT WHILE YOUR STILL YOUNG - CONGRATS (pg 2 of 8)

3 Presentation of the Grand Rapids FireFighters Retiree Association Retirement Certificates The GRFFRA has begun the process of presenting future and past retirees with this framed certificate acknowledging their accomplishment in the GRFD. Each one is prepared with the individuals career milestones (if known), their Department Badge #, Start Date and Retirement Rank/Date are printed. Presently we have presented 32 Certificates with an additional 21 in the completion process, if you have ordered one, it will be prepared and ready for pick-up at the May 2019 Breakfast Meeting. Other Information, Issues and Events th Check.. Small Disbursement was given in Jan SS COLA.. 2.2% Increase th Check.. No Disbursement would be given in Jan Below is an excerpt from the Pension Boards August 2018 Meeting.. Ms. Korzen next addressed the 13th Check calculations by noting that the five-year average book value rate of return was 7.56% for the Police & Fire Retirement System. Per City Code, in order for a 13th Check to be issued, the five-year average market value rate of return must exceed 8.0%. Therefore, there are not sufficient reserves to issue a 13th Check on January 31, SS COLA.. 2.8% Increase 2019 NOTE of Interest; An increase in MediCare Part B Premium from $ to $ per month (pg 3 of 8)

4 GRAND RAPIDS FIREFIGHTERS BLDG. CORP NEWS & VIEWS It is with the utmost gratitude to all those who were instrumental in having the vision to move on instituting the GRFF Bldg. Corp. with purchasing the complex and foreseeing the future the concept of helping the retiree become reality. Since the launching the GR FIREHALL WEBSITE - ( grfirehall.com ) There have been nearly 1500 visitors and views. *THE 2019 GR BLDG. CORP. MEETING IS APRIL 6:30 PM* The following letter was sent to all pre-1989 Retirees/Surviving Spouses /18/2018 Seasons Greetings, This letter is being sent to all pre 1989 retirees and their spouses. We are very happy to announce that we are in the position to provide financial assistance to those who do not receive a supplement towards insurance. As of today s date there are 35 retirees (or spouses) who left the Department prior to Our commitment this year is $17,500. My fellow Directors this year are Dave Noorman, Tony Rohloff, Jim McIntyre, Casey Spielmaker, Dan Weatherwax, Alex Atwood and Nick Fedewa. The Hall Manager is John Frederick ( ). He will answer any questions regarding our Hall which includes your event reservation and rental. As always, please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions. You can view the Website at Reminder: The date of the next Building Corp. Meeting/Party is April 24 th. (Always the 4 th Wednesday in April). C shift is on duty. The meeting is at 1930 hours and dinner immediately following This is free and open to all members (only), active and retirees. You re welcome to come on down earlier to visit. On behalf of The Grand Rapids Fire Fighters Building Corporation, thank you for your service and for the opportunity that we have to give back a little. Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year! Matt Keusch Grand Rapids FF s Building Corp. President (pg 4 of 8)

5 MediCare Supplement Trust Fund (MCSTF) History and Information... The Local negotiated this lifelong benefit back in the late 80 s and the actual premium assistance disbursement did not take place until 1990 being the retirement eligibility date (those who retired before that date have received some assistance through the GR BLDG CORP). The original funding began with a contribution of.5% of Fire payroll. Through the ensuing years there was only 2 increases to the contribution rate, those were an increase to.7% of payroll in the late 90 s and finally we are at.8% of payroll. The Local acknowledges the importance of funding and is committed to increasing the contribution rate in future negotiations. This is the only funding for this program (other than investment of funds) and although it has done well throughout the years we have had to decrease premium assistance several times in the past from a high of $ per month down to our current $ per month (effective October 2017). This was due to the sustainability of the fund with the Committee oversight looking out for all of us. As we have move forward your officers met with MCSTF Representative Craig VanderWall in October 2018 to review the fund and its financial position and it appears stable at this time, the next financial statement will be the year end report. Our hope is that we will meet annually with the MCSTF Committee to review the stability of the fund. The following is a brief numbers breakdown; The numbers of participation in the program varies from year to year depending on the those becoming eligible (reaching Medicare Required Age of 65) and those of the program passing on. This number runs approximately total participants (Retiree/Surviving Spouses) per year. The total annual cost can run approximately $125,00.00 to $150, for premium assistance. As all of us can see this program has done exactly as those who negotiated this benefit envisioned to assist us in our golden years. ============================ (pg 5 of 8)

6 *QUESTION ASKED IN REGARD TO DISABILITY (DUTY or NON-DUTY) PENSION TAXABILITY The following is the response I received from the Pension Board Original Message----- From: Peggy Korzen To: Donald Quick Sent: Thu, Aug 9, :45 am Subject: RE: TAX INFORMATION ON DISABILITY RETIREMENTS Hi Don, Thanks for your . The IRS Code is pretty gray when it comes to taxability of duty disability pensions. For this reason, we code them as taxable amount not determined so that retirees can proceed with the IRS as they see fit. If we were to code them as non-taxable and the IRS determined that they are taxable, it would jeopardize the tax-exempt status of the entire retirement system. Our attorney has told us that, once a duty disability retiree reaches his/her minimum service retirement age (55 for fire), then even duty disability pensions are taxable because they are no longer considered to be a like benefit to worker s compensation. Thus far we haven t changed the coding when a retiree reaches age 55, but we are considering doing so at some point (not for retirees that are already over age 55, but for retirees who will reach age 55 in the future). Non-duty disability pensions are taxable. We recommend that retirees seek the advice of a tax preparer/accountant to assist them with the best way to proceed. Peggy GRFFRA Ball Caps and Polo Shirts, we are attempting to find an on-line site which members can order at their leisure. See the illustrations below for product look, they are of quality material and workmanship. (pg 6 of 8)

7 The following is a message from the.. Dear Brothers and Sisters: After 8 years of Republican reign, Friday morning it came to an end! The Michigan Legislature closed out its Lame Duck session after a grueling 22-hour session that ended on Friday morning. Once again, the MPFFU stopped the lame duck attack on our pensions and retire health care. We initiated and participated in over 40 meetings with legislators on that issue alone. The MPFFU successfully killed SB 1209 (bill to adversely amend the way the hard cap and is calculated) and SB 1260 (bill to require unions pay for recertification elections every two years) Thank you for all of your calls, s and time spent at the Capitol lobbying to stop these bills. The MPFFU also spent countless hours participating alongside the AFL-CIO and their lobbying efforts to prevent many other anti-labor bills from being passed. During this last 8 years of Republican control, the MPFFU stopped many, many pieces of bad legislation that would have impacted the way we bargain our wages, pensions and health benefits. And even with all the negative bills that were introduced, the MPFFU successfully passed and funded the First Responder Presumed Coverage Fund and developed a stable funding source for training fire fighters. With your continued assistance and participation in the legislative process, we look forward to even greater success in 2019! Mark Docherty, President Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union (pg 7 of 8)

8 The GRFFRA is committed to maintain and enhance communications with all of our membership to keep all of us informed as time moves on. With that in mind you can always contact us at or If for any reason a Retiree or Surviving Spouse has any questions or concerns do not hesitate to contact us, Remember we all care for one another... Lastly, we would like to take this time to say THANK YOU to the Building Corporation and Local 366 for all they have done in the past and present in assisting those retirees who have needed it. Also, we would like to Thank the Pension Board for their continued decisions to keep the funding sound and stable. The endeavor and vision from our past mentors and peers have been so instrumental in our quality of life that they could never be thanked enough, you know who you are and we thank you for your vision in looking out for our futures. Wishing the best and healthiest 2019 for all UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN (May 14, 2019), GOD BLESS Your Representatives Donald W. Quick, President David Teisma, Secretary/Treasurer David VanderWall, V. President Roger Rohloff, Officer at Large (pg 8 of 8)