PLEASE POST FOR EMPLOYEE VIEWING

Transcription

1 STANISLAUS COUNTY Phone (209) EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION Fax (209) th Street, Suite Modesto, CA MAIL: P.O Box 3150, Modesto PLEASE POST FOR EMPLOYEE VIEWING BOARD OF RETIREMENT MINUTES Members Present: Alternate Members Absent: Members Absent: Others Present: Maria De Anda, Jim De Martini, Gordon Ford, Darin Gharat, Wes Hall, and Steve Yauch Linda Stotts-Burnett (Alternate Retiree Representative) Mike Fisher, Mike Lynch, and Ron Martin Kelly Cerny, Deirdre McGrath, Michele Silva, Monica Nino-Reid, Katrina Stoughtenborough, and Tom Watson 1. Meeting called to order at 2:02 p.m. by Wes Hall, Chair 2. Announcements None. 3. Public Comment Trina Stoughtenborough addressed the Board stating she was present for Item 7a. She thanked staff for compiling the fact-finding packet disseminated to board members. Ms. Stoughtenborough mentioned if board members had any questions she would be happy to answer them. 4. Consent Items Kelly Cerny, Secretary, requested the following clerical corrections to the February 27, 2007 Minutes: - Item 5, second paragraph should read December 31, Item 9c #1 should read Agenda Item 9b. - Item 9c last paragraph, last sentence, remove the first be. Gordon Ford requested Item 8 of the February 27, 2007 Minutes, should reflect his recommendation against taking action on the item. He distributed written materials about the prudent man rule, along with information from the February 2006 issue of Employee BenefitNews regarding plan sponsor responsibilities. Page 1

2 4. Consent Items (cont.) Motion was made by Maria De Anda and seconded by Steve Yauch to approve the following items as listed and with the above amendments as presented. a. Approval of the February 27, 2007 Meeting Minutes with amendments. b. Approval of Service Retirement(s) Sections , 31670, & Bruce Baracco, SAAG, Effective Dorothy Butler, Auditor-Controller, Effective Pamela Carder, Planning, Effective Nilo Casiano, DCSS, Effective Virginia Coffman, Sheriff, Effective Charley Corle, Sheriff, Effective Carla Dionizio, DCSS, Effective (Date Correction Only) 8. James Duval, Planning, Effective Steven Erickson, Public Works, Effective Marianne Gallmeyer, Library, Effective Rosie Henao, BHRS, Effective Janice Hesling, HSA, Effective Joachim Hollstein, City of Ceres, Effective Guy Robert Kachel, Planning, Effective Adele Kaplan, Library, Effective Attila Kemeny, BHRS, Effective Kenneth Keyes, Sheriff, Effective Karen Maher, CSA, Effective Linda Mann, HSA, Effective Lombard Manuel, Public Works, Effective Carole Martinelli-Sevick, BHRS, Effective Kirk McAllister, District Attorney, Effective Pamela Moore, HSA, Effective, Carolyn O Neal, CSA, Effective Kathleen Palmisano, Superior Court, Effective Kristine Pierson, Superior Court, Effective Marjorie Ramirez, Sheriff, Effective Lina Ruppel, HSA, Effective Gwendolyn Simas, HSA, Effective Shirley Syrie, Superior Court, Effective Marilyn Villines, HSA, Effective Barbara Willard, CSA, Effective Donald Williams, Sheriff, Effective c. Approval of Deferred Retirement(s) Section Guadalupe Cruz, HSA, Effective Thomas Dawson, Agricultural Commissioner, Effective Peter Galles, Sheriff, Effective Kevin Gonzalves, Agricultural Commissioner, Effective Michelle Hatter, Probation, Effective

3 4. Consent Items (cont.) c. Approval of Deferred Retirement(s) Section (cont.) 6. Barbara Hill, HSA, Effective Kenneth Hoach, HSA, Effective Kane Kissam, Sheriff, Effective Jason A. Mercado, Probation, Effective Benjamin Sarasua Jr., Sheriff, Effective Jeff Sargent, Sheriff, Effective d. Approval of Disability Retirement Section Michael Toste, Sheriff, Service-Connected, Effective e. Approval of Death Benefit 1. Lois Ertel, Deceased February 17, 2007, Active Member, Option Pursuant to Government Code Sections Wes Hall, Chair, announced that Item 5 is continued because due to an oversight, the applicant was not noticed. 5. Closed Session - Item Continued a. Adopt Hearing Officer s Proposed Findings of Facts & Recommendation - Vena Volz s Application for Service Connected Disability Retirement Benefit Item continued to the April 11, 2007 Administrative meeting of the Board of Retirement. 6. Administrator a. Discussion and Action on Administrator s Recommendation to Deny Beverly Stoughtenborough s Claim for Barry Stoughtenborough s Surviving Spousal Benefits Tom Watson, Retirement Administrator distributed additional written information received by facsimile on March 12, 2007 from Beverly Stoughtenborough. Mr. Watson gave a synopsis of his report and recommendation. He reported that ultimately, Mr. Stoughtenborough considered himself unmarried in 1995, and nominated Katrina Lynn Stoughtenborough, his spouse as his beneficiary. Board members reviewed and discussed the information presented. Deirdre McGrath, Deputy County Counsel, apprised the board of possible litigation that could occur. Motion was made by Steve Yauch and seconded by Maria De Anda to to approve the Administrator s Recommendation to deny Beverly Stoughtenborough s Claim for Barry Stoughtenborough s surviving spousal benefits. 3

4 6. Administrator (cont.) b. Discussion and Action on the Draft Request for Proposal (RFP) - StanCERA Health Insurance Consultant Tom Watson informed board members they were in receipt of the draft RFP that has yet to be issued. He noted the language used throughout this first draft is standard RFP language commonly used by the County Purchasing Department. This language will be altered to meet the requirements of StanCERA. The Purchasing Department will be used only to administer the RFP process. Mr. Watson mentioned the main issue is to review whether to continue paying a consultant directly as is current practice, or to add the cost to the monthly health insurance premium that is charged to retirees. Any changes would begin with the health insurance offered as of January 1, Mr. Watson noted that for 19 years the administration fee was part of the monthly premium. In it was determined to pay the consultant directly. Gordon Ford, Ex-Officio, inquired as to whether the consultant fee falls under the new reporting requirements of the Other Post Employee Benefits (OPEB) and its possible effect on financial reporting. Mr. Watson responded this is merely administration of how retirees will receive health insurance, and not that StanCERA or the County is providing a health insurance benefit to retirees. Steve Yauch, Trustee, asked is it customary to issue a RFP through the County. Mr. Watson stated StanCERA staff does not have the expertise or knowledge of the health insurance consultant community and has sought assistance from the Chief Executive Office Risk Management and Purchasing. There may be many alternatives available in acquiring an insurance consultant that a RFP would uncover or, there may not -- it can go either way. Risk Management has been contacted for their assistance because of their experience and knowledge in the health insurance industry. Mr. Watson stated the Retired Employees of Stanislaus County (RESCO) organization was approached to ascertain if it was interested in taking over the administration of the retiree health insurance. Although RESCO would like to, it does not have the staff or resources to do so. Maria De Anda left at 2:27 p.m. Darin Gharat, Trustee, expressed his concern as to whether this is creating a historical precedent for acquiring retiree health insurance and eventually creating an ongoing liability for the County in relation to the OPEB requirements. Mr. Watson said this RFP was to only provide a vendor for retiree health insurance. Ms. McGrath interjected that for the County to assist in the RFP process is not a demonstration of support of paying for retiree health insurance. There is no relation between the pooling of retirees with active employees for a lower premium, and the County s assistance with an RFP process in order for StanCERA to obtain a vendor. Maria De Anda returned at 2:29 p.m. Board members reviewed and discussed the draft proposal with suggestions of changes and additional language. The Board requested that RESCO be included in the process. The general consensus is StanCERA should not be a health 4

5 6. Administrator (cont.) b. Discussion and Action on the Draft Request for Proposal (RFP) - StanCERA Health Insurance Consultant (cont.) insurance administrator. Gordon Ford suggested phasing in the cost of the administrative fee to the retirees. Motion was made by Steve Yauch and seconded by Darin Gharat to bring back the RFP for final approval after the recommendations and revision of the language is incorporated. i. Discussion and Action on Who Will Pay Retiree Health Insurance Consultant Administrative Fees No action taken. c. Report on a Survey of 1937 Act Retirement Systems Funded Status Tom Watson gave a summary of the written report board members had received of an informal survey of 1937 Act systems funded status. Of 19 systems surveyed, StanCERA is the second highest funded at a rate of 96.6%. The funded status range is 72% to 97.1%. Eight of the 19 retirement systems have a funded status of 90% or higher including the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, the largest 1937 Act retirement system. Some of the responding systems wanted it recognized that some counties issued Pension Obligation Bonds (POBs) to fully fund the systems while others did not. Thus, these figures alone do not provide a true comparison between the systems. d. California Association of Public Retirement Systems (CALAPRS) July 2006 Survey of Salary for Administrators and Chief Investment Officers Tom Watson gave a brief overview of a written report of the CALAPRS annual survey of salaries for administrators and chief investment officers. The annual survey is completed July of each year. Figures for this report were from the July 2006 survey. e. Discussion and Action on the State Association of County Retirement Systems (SACRS) Nominees/Candidates for the Executive Committee The board reviewed the slate of candidates for the annual SACRS Executive Committee scheduled for election at the SACRS Spring Conference, May 8-11, It was noted that any write-in candidates received by March 25, 2007, would be included in the final ballot to be received by each regular member county retirement system prior to April 1, No action was taken. The Board will wait until April to review the final slate of candidates. 5

6 6. Administrator (cont.) f. Discussion and Action on the State Association of County Retirement Systems (SACRS) May 8-11, 2007 Spring Conference Voting Proxy Form Motion was made by Gordon Ford and seconded by Darin Gharat to designate Wes Hall, Chair, as the voting delegate and Mike Fisher, Vice-Chair, as the alternate voting delegate for the SACRS May 8-11, 2007 Spring Conference Business Meeting. g. Discussion and Action on the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS) Voting Delegates for the 2007 Annual Conference, May 18-24, 2007 Motion was made by Maria De Anda and seconded by Steve Yauch to designate Tom Watson, Retirement Administrator, as the voting delegate for the NCPERS 2007 Annual Conference, May 18-24, Maria De Anda left at 3:21 p.m. 7. County Counsel Educational Presentation on Disability Retirement Maria De Anda returned at 3:23 p.m. Deirdre McGrath, Deputy County Counsel gave the first in a series of educational presentations on disability retirement. She stated these presentations will occur from time to time to bring the Board s awareness of the laws related to disability retirement determination. Darin Gharat left at 3:26 p.m. Ms. McGrath distributed written material detailing some of the government code sections that pertain to disability retirement, beginning with Government Code Section Darin Gharat returned at 3:28 p.m. She gave a verbal explanation of who may file, the time to file an application, types of disability retirements, burden of proof and, the primary issues in a disability retirement hearing. Ms. McGrath concluded with a question and answer segment. 8. Members Forum (Information and Future Agenda Requests Only) Gordon Ford shared information he learned at the recently attended California Society Of Municipal Finance Officers (CSMFO) Annual Conference, March 6-9, 2007, Modesto, California. Mr. Ford mentioned several hundred cities and major banks attended. He mentioned the California Public Employees Retirement System (CALPERS) is starting to hold and invest funds for those public agencies that want to fund the liability created for retiree health insurance that must now be disclosed under the new General Accounting Standards Board s (GASB) accounting requirements for the OPEB. 6

7 8. Members Forum (Information and Future Agenda Requests Only) [cont.] Darin Gharat thanked Wes Hall, Chair, for a job well done on his article written for the RESCO Spring 2007 newsletter. Mr. Gharat took issue with the RESCO President s Message in the newsletter, in particular the reference to the use of County Counsel by StanCERA, and the lack of a response from RESCO s legal counsel regarding its legal opinion. The Board of Retirement s active employee representatives may meet with RESCO s President to discuss some issues about StanCERA that have appeared in the newsletters. Wes Hall circulated the thank-you letter received from Lois Ertel s church for the personal donations received in memory of Lois. The donations will benefit the church hand bell choir that Lois was a member of for several years. 9. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 3:52 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Tom Watson, Retirement Administrator APPROVED AS TO FORM: MICHAEL KRAUSNICK, COUNTY COUNSEL Deirdre McGrath, Deputy County Counsel 7