Fire Pension Board

MINUTES CITY OF DEKALB Special Meeting of the DeKalb Firefighters Pension Fund October 13, 2022 The DeKalb Firefighters Pension Board of Trustees held a special Meeting on October 13, 2022, at DeKalb Police Headquarters, 700 W. Lincoln Hwy., 2nd Floor, Training Classroom, DeKalb, IL 60115. ROLL CALL At 8:59 a.m., President Bill Lynch called the roll. Members present were Bill Kalal, Bob Terry, Carrie Dittman and Bill Lynch. Member absent was Ray Krueger. Also in attendance were Craig Larsen of Mission Wealth, Michael May of Lauterbach & Amen, Attorney Jerry Marzullo of Asher, Gittler & D’Alba, and Administrative Assistant Jill Voight, as recording secretary. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Bob Terry moved to approve the agenda. Bill Kalal seconded the motion. A voice vote was conducted. Aye votes were voiced by all present members. The motion passed. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION None APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Minutes of Regular Meeting – April 21, 2022 Bill Kalal moved to approve the regular meeting minutes from April 21, 2022 with the amendment reflecting Carrie Dittman’s arrival of 8:30 a.m. and was present for agenda items # l to the end. Bob Terry seconded the motion. A voice vote was conducted. Aye votes were voiced by all present members. The motion passed. b. Minutes of Special Meeting – June 28, 2022 Carrie Dittman moved to approve the special meeting minutes from June 28, 2022. Bob Terry seconded the motion. A voice vote was conducted. Aye votes were voiced by all present members. The motion passed. OLD BUSINESS None DeKalb Firefighters Pension Board of Trustees October 13, 2022 Page 2 of 5 NEW BUSINESS 1. APPROVAL – Harris Bank Authorized Agents Bill Lynch moved to approve as historically done President, Secretary and Treasurer as signers. Bob Terry seconded the motion. A voice vote was conducted. Aye votes were voiced by all present members. The motion passed. 2. APPROVAL – New Member David Koelper – hire date 05/16/2022 Bill Lynch moved to approve David Koelper as a Tier II member. Carrie Dittman seconded the motion. A voice vote was conducted. Aye votes were voiced by all present members. The motion passed. 3. APPROVAL – Deputy Chief Bart Gilmore Retirement and Benefit Calculations Carrie Dittman moved to approve regular retirement pension of Deputy Chief Bart Gilmore commencing September 10, 2022, having earned 28 years, 1 month of service and an applicable salary of $135,300. Original monthly pension of $7,915.99, month of September 2022 prorated at $5,541.19. Bill Lynch seconded the motion. A voice vote was conducted. Aye votes were voiced by all present members. The motion passed. 4. APPROVAL – Updated IPPFA Member Benefit Books Bill Lynch moved to approve purchasing 40 updated IPPFA Member Benefit Books at $7.00 each. Bill Kalal seconded the motion. A voice vote was conducted. Aye votes were voiced by all present members. The motion passed. 5. APPROVAL – Proposed Fire Pension Fund budget for FY 2023 Bill Lynch moved to approve the proposed Fire Pension Fund budget for FY 2023. Bob Terry seconded the motion. A roll call vote was conducted. Aye votes were cast by Kalal, Terry, Dittman and Lynch. No Nay votes were cast. The motion passed. 6. APPROVAL – Audited Financial Statements 12/31/2021 Carrie Dittman went over the audit results for 12/31/2021 and noted that the Firefighters Pension Fund overspent the budget. Also, the auditors had one management letter comment related to needing to expand the documentation presented in the Fire Pension agendas. Bill Lynch moved to approve the Audited Financial Statements of December 31, 2021 with the addition of $900 to training/travel for one additional member to attend the IPPAC conference. Bill Kalal seconded the motion. A roll call vote was conducted. Aye votes were cast by Kalal, Terry, Dittman and Lynch. No nay votes were cast. The motion passed. 7. DISCUSSION – CASH FLOWS Discussion was had regarding what amount should be kept in local account vs. transferred downstate. DeKalb Firefighters Pension Board of Trustees October 13, 2022 Page 3 of 5 Craig Larsen questioned how active everyone wanted to be involved in moving money back and forth but mentioned the state does have an automatic withdrawal plan as an option. He further stated to make sure that no matter where the cash is kept that it is earning a competitive interest rate. Michael May added some boards keep more on hand versus down state and others do the opposite. Ultimately it is up to the board. Also, to bear in mind that the transaction account at Harris pays 0 interest. He added that he has not seen any issues with money transfers from the state. Craig Larsen reiterated that this would be his last meeting and reminded everyone that although the Schwab account is closed, the Fidelity account remains open and his long-haul recommendation would be to not look at where that market has been or might go and ultimately it is a philosophical decision. He recommended keeping all accounts in place, have money feed into FNB account if necessary and to keep a cushion at Fidelity earning a competitive money market account. Carrie Dittman stated that money from property taxes and salary deductions go directly into FNB so money would not need to be pulled from the state. Craig Larsen recommended that when big tax deductions come in to send it to the state, but keep in mind the seasonality of fund flow with tax revenue. He asked how much money the board wants at state level working for them with a higher rate of return versus keeping more cash on hand and finding a higher interest rate vehicle. Bill Lynch asked Carrie Dittman where she is comfortable, and she stated there is too much cash at hand now. It was suggested to keep two months of payments in Fidelity after correcting the authorized signers for the account, and maybe send property taxes straight into Fidelity. Carrie Dittman stated she would prefer to keep more money down state and Bob Terry agreed that it would benefit the members to keep more money down state. Jerry Marzullo stated most boards are going down to smaller amounts kept locally, and not to overthink it. Craig Larsen asked how the board wanted to transfer funds and Carrie Dittman responded she wanted to move the money from FNB to Fidelity. Larsen then asked how big the amount needs to be to cover expenses. Dittman noted that there is a $1.9 million difference between the high and low mark and that at least one month of expenses (about $400,000) should be kept in reserve. Larsen recommended doing a forecast every year at the April meeting, if not quarterly. Carrie Dittman moved to transfer $1.6 million from FNB account to downstate fund. Bill Lynch seconded the motion. A roll call vote was conducted. Aye votes were cast by Kalal, Terry, Dittman and Lynch. No nay votes were cast. The motion passed. DeKalb Firefighters Pension Board of Trustees October 13, 2022 Page 4 of 5 Carrie Dittman moved to always maintain a minimum of 1 month of payments and expenses as a balance in local liquid cash account. Bill Lynch seconded the motion. A roll call vote was conducted. Aye votes were cast by Kalal, Terry, Dittman and Lynch no nay votes were cast. The motion passed. ACCOUNTANT’S COMPILATION REPORT (Lauterbach & Amen – Michael May) Michael May distributed the report ending August 31, 2022. He directed everyone’s attention to the statement of net position (page 2.1), statement of changes in net position (page 2.2), then the quarterly vendor check report (pages 11.1 and 11.2). He explained the rest of the pages were supplemental information. May explained the statements received from the state are about 2 months behind. APPROVAL – Expenses 2nd and 3rd quarters Carrie Dittman moved to approve the 2nd and 3rd quarter expenses. Bill Lynch seconded the motion. A roll call vote was conducted. Aye votes were cast by Kalal, Terry, Dittman and Lynch. No nay votes were cast. The motion passed. Jerry Marzullo stated that a municipal compliance report would need to be presented to the city. Bill Lynch moved to approve municipal compliance report upon finance department approval. Bill Kalal seconded the motion. A voice vote was conducted. Aye votes were voiced by all present members. The motion passed. Carrie Dittman will double check the numbers and give it to Marzullo to deliver upon approval. DISCUSSION ON TRANSFERRED FUNDS (Mission Wealth - Craig Larsen) Craig Larson cited the need to go over a few housekeeping matters. He asked whether a notice has been sent to Schwab regarding ending the agreement. Lynch inquired as to whether the board was legally obligated to. It was approved in January minutes; it will be checked into. What will it take to get the Fidelity account updated with the correct information? Carrie Dittman moved to direct Mission Wealth to remove themselves from the fidelity account within the next 90 days. Bill Lynch seconded the motion. A voice vote was conducted. Aye votes were voiced by all present members. The motion passed. The Mission wealth agreement will need be left open since no official notification has been done. It will be handled at next meeting after all housekeeping matters are done. Bill Lynch moved to continue relationship with Mission Wealth up to and including January 20th, 2023. Bob Terry seconded the motion. A voice vote was conducted. Aye votes were voiced by all present members. The motion passed. Craig Larsen will send the text needed for notification of termination. He thanked everyone for the opportunity to serve the board and will miss coming to meetings. Bill Lynch thanked Craig Larsen for all his help. DeKalb Firefighters Pension Board of Trustees October 13, 2022 Page 5 of 5 Bob Terry left the meeting at 10:15 a.m. Bill Lynch moved to set the following dates for 2023 Pension Board meetings. • January 19th – 9:00 a.m. • April 20th – 9:00 a.m. • July 20th – 9:00 a.m. • October 19th – 9:00 a.m. Carrie Dittman seconded the motion. A voice vote was conducted. Aye votes were voiced by all present members. The motion passed. TOPICS FOR NEXT MEETING – January 19th, 2023 • Cost of living increases • Mission Wealth termination • Election discussion • Cash management • Attorney’s report Discussion followed regarding the ongoing lawsuit filed against the State of Illinois by several local Fire Pension Boards. ADJOURNMENT Bill Lynch moved to adjourn the meeting. Bill Kalal seconded the motion. A voice vote was conducted. All members present voiced aye votes. The meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m. __________________________________ Jill Voight, Recording Secretary Minutes approved by the DeKalb Firefighters Pension Board January 30, 2023