SPECIAL MEETING
OLD SAYBROOK PENSION BENEFITS BOARD
July 31, 2012 at 7 p.m.
Old Saybrook Town Hall Conference Room
Present – Suzanne Taylor, Gary Lehrman, Steve Sheehan, Eileen Torrenti
Also Present – Sharon Migliaccio, Tom Forma – Merrill Lynch, Charles Mercer and Chief Michael Spera – Old Saybrook Police Department, Linda McCall and Kathleen Marshall – Town employees.
The meeting was called to order by Chairperson, Susanne Taylor at 7:05 p.m. The minutes of June 28th meeting were reviewed and several errors were noticed. A motion to accept the minutes as corrected was made by Gary Lehrman and seconded by Steve Sheehan and approved.
Chair’s report:
• Opal Conference – Suzanne reported on the Public Funds Summit East conference in Newport, Rhode Island where she moderated a panel of four state treasurers. She said she had some very good ideas from the conference which she will discuss at a later meeting.
Investment Reports:
Tom Forma of Merrill Lynch reported the status of the Town’s Pension Fund. As of July 30, 2012 there is $16,037,882 in the Town’s Pension Fund and $873,512 in the Health Care Fund. Tom reported the total portfolio performance ending June 30, 2012 was down 2.89. The Health Care Reserve was up 4.77 as of the same period. There was some discussion about treasury bonds and their performance. The Board thanked Tom for his information.
Items to be Discussed:
• Social Security Offset Question – Charles Mercer who is a Sergeant with the Old Saybrook Police Department requested a calculation of his contributions as of October 1st, November 1st, December 1st, and January 1st. Chief Spera explained that there were some discrepancies between the Pension Summary and the Police contracts for 1998 and 2008 as to the language regarding the Social Security offset. Chief Spera believes the offset was removed from the 1998 Police Contract and not specified in the next contract. Some discussion ensured with Chief Spera requesting the Board to allow Sergeant Mercer to retire without the offset as of October 1st. This would allow the Chief to hire a replacement and enroll that person into the academy in October. The Board felt it
needed more research time before making a decision. Chief Spera said that this is really a non issue for the Pension Board but Steve Sheehan reminded him that it was up to the Board to determine that. After more discussion the discussion the Pension Board will review the matter and Attorney Sheehan will discuss the matter further with Attorney Pat McHale. One possibility discussed would be for Charles Mercer to receive a lump sum for his accumulated vacation and sick time and receive a pension as of January 1, 2013 when he will have twenty-five years. Charles Mercer thanked the Board for their cooperation.
• Status of the Board of Education staff buybacks – As directed by the Pension Board at their June meeting, First Selectman, Carl Fortuna sent a letter on July 9, 2012 to the Board of Education to inform them of the Board’s position concerning the fact that participation in the pension plan is a condition of employment and not optional. On July 17th the Board of Education sent a letter which noted two employees leaving employment and requesting a refund of contributions, which in accord with Board principal. However the letter also requested a refund for a staff member who no longer wants to continue to buy back his service or participate in the plan. Some discussion followed as to why he wanted this refund. The Board suggested that due to possible
circumstances that his buy back opportunity might be extended longer than two years. Suzanne will contact Mary Morgan at the Board of Education Central office to explore this further.
• Status of the 457 Plan Transition to ICMA – The transition from ING to ICMA has been completed as of July 20th. Suzanne read an email from Kim Lewis. The Board was copied on the emails received in the Accounting office during this transition. The Police Department was pleased with the interaction but would like to have the 457 plan offered to new employees at the time they are hired. It was suggested that perhaps the new finance director, Lisa Carver, could be involved with a future meeting in conjunction with ICMA. Some discussion followed.
• The Health Care Plan update was postponed until the September meeting. It was mentioned that the First Selectman had notified staff that a refund from the health care provider has been received as required by the Obama health care plan which limits non medical spending to no more than 15 to 20 percent of expenses.
• Consideration of additional investment advisors – The Board would like to review its investment goals and policy as well as consider additional money managers. Tom said he would bring some additional information to the September meeting, where the matter will be discussed more fully.
A motion to adjourn was made by Eileen Torrenti and seconded by Steve Sheehan. All were in favor. The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Sharon E. Migliaccio
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