Minutes for the March 3, 2016 Meeting of the Board

Transcription

1 MEETING OF THE RETIREMENT BOARD OF THE COUNTY EMPLOYEES AND OFFICERS ANNUITY AND BENEFIT FUND OF COOK COUNTY AND EX OFFICIO FOR THE FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT EMPLOYEES ANNUITY AND BENEFIT FUND OF COOK COUNTY 33 N Dearborn St, Suite 1000 Chicago, IL Minutes for the March 3, 2016 Meeting of the Board The County Employees and Officers Annuity and Benefit Fund of Cook County and the Forest Preserve District Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund of Cook County are herein collectively referred to as the Fund. Call to Order and Roll Call Trustees Present: Staff Present: Others Present: John Fitzgerald, Diahann Goode, Brent Lewandowski, Patrick McFadden, Patrick Nester, Dennis White (left after Item 6a), Lawrence and Alexis Herrera Nickol R. Hackett, Executive Director & CIO; Michael Maratea, Director of Finance and Administration; Gary LeDonne, Senior Benefit Advisor; Margaret Fahrenbach, Legal Advisor; Paul Rzeszutko, Director of Annuity Benefits, Brenda Deming, Director, Health Benefits; Beverly Romanini, Office Manager Mary Pat Burns, Burke Burns & Pinelli; Dan Levin, Buck Consultants; Robert Molaro, John McCabe & Associates; Samuel Richardson, Jr., Forest Preserve Annuitant; Theron Picketts, Topeka Capital; Kenaye Manley, SEIU; Jason Parks, Loop Capital; Harry Bailey, Cheevers & Co. Trustee Herrera, President of the Board, opened the meeting for public comment and no one having requested to address the Board, the next item of business on the Agenda was considered. 1. Review and Consideration of: a. February 4, 2016 Board Meeting Minutes It was moved by Trustee Fitzgerald and seconded by Trustee Goode that the minutes of the February 4, Board meeting be adopted. 2. Review and Consideration of: County Employees and Officers Annuity and Benefit Fund of Cook County Forest Preserve District Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund of Cook County 33 N Dearborn St, Suite 1000 Chicago, IL fax

2 a. Bills, Payroll Records The Fund s monthly bills and payroll records were presented for the Board s approval. It was moved by Trustee Goode and seconded by Trustee Nester that the action taken by the Fund s staff in remitting payments for the presented bills and payroll records be approved. b. Annuities, Spouse and Child Annuities and Refunds The Fund s staff presented their recommendations to the Board regarding the applications for annuities, spouse and child annuities, and refunds and confirmed that they followed the Fund s procedures in reviewing and processing the applications in making their recommendations. It was then moved by Trustee McFadden and seconded by Trustee Fitzgerald, after due consideration of the applications presented to the Board and having received confirmation from the staff that they followed the Fund s procedures in reviewing and processing the applications, that the recommendations for the presented annuities and refunds be approved. c. Ordinary and Duty Disabilities The Fund s staff presented their recommendations to the Board regarding the applications for ordinary and duty disability benefits and confirmed that they followed the Fund s procedures in reviewing and processing the applications in making their recommendations. It was moved by Trustee Goode and seconded by Trustee Lewandowski, after due consideration of the disability applications presented to the Board and having received confirmation from staff that they followed the Fund s procedures in reviewing and processing the applications, that the recommendations for the presented disability applications be approved. 2

3 3. Administrative Report a. Building Lease Negotiation Michael Maratea, Director of Finance and Administration, stated that the lease on the Fund s administrative offices at 33 N. Dearborn, will expire on December 31, The lease contains an early termination option date of December 31, If the Fund choses to elect the early termination option, the Fund would have to give notice to the landlord and pay the requisite fees by December 31, Mr. Maratea stated that MB Real Estate would provide a review of the current lease and make a proposal to the Board regarding the early termination option. No fee would be incurred by the Fund for the proposal. As currently returned to review disaster receovery site options, it was expected that the proposal would be ready for the Board s consideration in July, It was moved by Trustee McFadden and seconded by Trustee Goode that the Fund may request MB Real Estate to evaluate the current lease of the Fund s administrative offices at 33 N. Dearborn and to prepare a proposal, at no cost to the Fund, regarding the termination option contained within the lease for the Board s review. b. Fiduciary Liability Insurance Margaret M. Fahrenbach, Legal Advisor, stated that the Fund s current fiduciary liability policy in the amount of $10,000,000 with excess coverage of an additional $5,000,000 expires on April 23, She stated that Mesirow Insurance Group, Inc. was asked to provide proposals for a renewal policy. Mesirow reported that the proposal submitted by ULLICO (Markel) as the primary carrier for $10,000,000 with Euclid (Hudson) providing excess coverage for $5,000,000 at total annual premium of $105,057 provided the most competitive terms. The premium represents an increase of about 3% over the expiring policy, but Mesirow believes that the terms are favorable for this type of coverage in the current climate. It was moved by Trustee McFadden and seconded by Trustee Nester that the Board renew the expiring Fiduciary Liability Insurance Policy with ULLICO/Markel with limits of $10,000,000 and an excess policy with Euclid (Hudson) with limits of $5,000,000 for an additional twelve months for an annual premium not to exceed $105,057 upon the terms proposed and that the Funds staff and legal counsel take all action reasonably necessary to effectuate the foregoing including, subject to legal review and sign off, execution of related written agreements on the Fund s behalf by the Executive Director. 3

4 4. Other Benefit Matters a. Disability Benefits for Employees after Separation The Executive Director stated that the issue of whether employees are eligible for disability benefits after they have separated from employment has not been resolved and the Fund has continued to defer making recommendations to the Board about such applications. The Fund has not received the requested legal opinion from the State s Attorney s Office and the MEABF case pending in the Circuit Court raising similar issues has not been decided. The Fund has two applications pending filed by members who have requested a continuation of disability benefits after they had been separated from service. It was discussed that applications for disability benefits had been allowed after the member had been separated from service if the termination was due to a reduction in staff by the employer, as opposed to a discharge for cause. There were concerns about providing disability benefits to separated employees without clear guidance to do so. The trustees asked that the staff prepare a more detailed summary about the two pending applications and the authority upon which a decision regarding the applications could be made. It was moved by Trustee White and seconded by Trustee Fitzgerald that this motion be deferred until more information is compiled. 5. Health Benefit Matters a. Review of EGWP Proposal, Buck Consultants The Executive Director stated that under the direction of the Health Benefits Committee, Buck Consultants had begun the negotiation process on behalf of the Fund for a Medicare Employer Group Waiver Plan ( EGWP ) for its retirees who are Medicare eligible. Dan Levin of Buck Consultants stated that an EGWP could provide an estimated $5 million in cash savings during the first year of implementation and would have a significant positive impact on the Fund s actuarial liability and on GASB 43/45 liability. The plan would be largely similar with the exception of some formulary differences, and a Wrap Plan with a commercial provider to cover prescriptions not included in Medicare Part D. In addition, low-income participants would be eligible for subsidies that they were not currently able to receive. Under EGWP, the Fund would need to provide communications to the members before the plan was implemented and would incur ongoing costs to administer the subsidies to low-income members going forward. 4

5 Mr. Levin presented the administrative costs for commercial providers for a Wrap Plan and recommended that the Fund retain CVS/Caremark s subsidiary, Silver Scripts, for the EGWP program because its administrative and claims processing fees were most competitive and addressed disruption to memebers. Negotiations with the provider regarding fees are ongoing. A fund proposal is expected at the next meeting. 6. Legislative Matters a. Report from Legislative Liaison Robert Molaro of John McCabe & Associates, the Fund s legislative liaison, addressed the Board about matters pending before the General Assembly. Mr. Molaro stated that he had just received a communication from John McCabe that HB 6292, regarding technical changes for physician reviews of disability under Section 9-158, had passed out of the House Personnel and Pension Committee that morning. HB 6292 will be held to allow Amendment 1 to be adopted to include the language in HB 6293, which defined that meaning of in service for purposes of Section and HB 6294 which further clarified sources of employer contributions under Section Mr. Molaro also reported that HB 6130, which deleted the requirement that a person be an employee as of 01/01/93 to purchase military service, had passed out of Committee. Trustee Fitzgerald asked that the Fund staff work with the Fund s actuary to determine the actuarial impact that HB 6130 would have on the Fund should it be enacted and that the Fund should take no position pending the analysis. It was noted that Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund ( MEABF ) and the Laborers Annuity and Benefit Fund ( LABF ) had sent letters to the General Assembly and other political representatives about their respective funding status and impending solvency which is projected within the next ten years. The Illinois Supreme Court is expected to release its decision regarding the Circuit Court s ruling that PA , which provided for a long-term funding mechanism for MEABF and LABF, was unconstitutional. Given the fiscal imperatives of public pension funding, the General Assembly may be receptive to amendments to the Pension Code in regard to actuarially required contributions and it was suggested that the Fund might plan to have such a bill ready to be introduced. b. Consideration of February 10, 2016 Legislative Committee Recommendations The Board then considered the recommendations made by the Legislative Committee, some of which had been addressed by the legislative liaison, regarding legislation before the General Assembly. 10, 2016, that the legislation which had been previously approved by the Board and introduced in 2015, regarding technical changes to other governmental service, a definition for in service and changes regarding disability benefits be introduced in the current legislative session. 5

6 The Board next discussed the proposed amendment to Section regarding the submission of a beneficiary form to the Fund for a refund of contributions after the member s death and by adding a new Section 9-214, which would clarify the Fund s authority to correct mistakes in benefits that had been approved. The amendment to Section would delete the requirement that the beneficiary form be notarized. The proposed legislation for enacting Section would permit the Fund to recover amounts overpaid to members by making deductions from any remaining benefits payable to the recipients. The Trustees discussed that under other articles of the Pension Code deductions from benefits to recover overpayments could not exceed 10% of the corrected monthly benefit and proposed that Section be revised to reflect the same limitation. 10, 2016, that legislation be introduced regarding a technical change to the requirements for the beneficiary form and by adding a new Section 9-214, as amended, which would clarify the Board s authority to correct errors and recover overpayments from monthly benefits. 10, 2016, that legislation be introduced, as presented, confirming the County s authority to make contributions from revenue sources in addition to the property tax levy. 10, 2016, that legislation be introduced, as presented, regarding ARC funding for the County Fund and the Forest Fund. It was moved by Trustee McFadden and seconded by Trustee Lewandowksi that the Board support HB 6030 which would permit the Illinois Department of Health to provide vital records to the Retirement Systems and that the Fund request its legislative liaison to express such support as might be appropriate. 7. Cash Flow and Liquidity Analysis Authorization The Executive Director stated that the County Fund required a cash flow and funding analysis to aid in the development of a funding and cash policy. The analysis would be performed in coordination with the County Finance Department. She recommended that the County Fund retain RVKuhns to conduct a 2015 cash flow and liability at a fee of $55,000 which would be used for these purposes. 6

7 It was moved by Trustee McFadden and seconded by Trustee Goode that the County Fund engage RVKuhns to conduct a 2015 study for the County Fund at a cost not to exceed $55,000 and it is further moved that the Executive Director be authorized to take all action reasonably necessary to effectuate the foregoing included the execution and delivery of related written agreements on behalf of the Fund. Goode, Fitzgerald, Herrera, Lewandowski, McFadden, Nester, 8. Old Business/New Business The Trustees discussed the need for the Fund to revise a funding letter, as did the MEABF and LABF, to formally notify stakeholders regarding its funding status. 9. Adjournment There being no further business before the Board, it was moved by Trustee Lewandowski and seconded by Trustee Goode that the trustees adjourn the meeting. The next Board meeting is scheduled for April 7, 2016, at 9:30 a.m. 7