Department of Retirement System (DRS) Director Sandy Matheson called the meeting to order at 11:00 am. Workgroup members present were:
| WACOPS | LEOFF 1 Coalition | RFFOW | WSCFF |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Crowder | Mark Curtis | Randy Plain | Keven Rojecki |
| Dan Downs | Dick Warbrouck | ||
| Retired Seattle Police Association (RSPA) | FOP | ||
| Gerald Taylor | Bill Hanson | ||
| Attorney | Assoc. of Counties | Assoc. of Cities | LEOFF 1 Retiree |
| Joe Fischnaller | Julie Murray | Jim Justin | Bill Kantor |
Director Matheson welcomed everyone to the meeting and invited the attendees to introduce themselves and the groups they were representing.
After introductions Director Matheson handed out copies of the draft minutes from the May 22, 2008 meeting. She asked that when individuals have comments on the minutes they provide them to all members through email. The email addresses for group members will be sent out to everyone.
There was a motion and second to approve the minutes. During the discussion of the motion, the following changes to the minutes were agreed upon:
The minutes were approved as amended. The group recommended that the minutes be sent to Ray Sanderson as an interested party who is unable to attend the meetings.
Director Matheson handed out the study questions developed during the May 22, 2008 meeting. Additionally, she distributed two documents that showed the number of LEOFF 1 retirees by their employers and LEOFF 1 retirees, who had prior act or pre-LEOFF service, and their employers.
A discussion of the study questions ensued with additional questions following from group members.
- Identify employers who still have active or retired pre-LEOFF and LEOFF Plan 1 members
- Breakdown the data by employer type (city, county, fire district, etc.)
- Breakdown the data by police and fire
- Identify data by specific employers, if needed
- Break down data by active and retired member by employer
The group suggested that the tables be modified to include a column for employers with both police and fire personnel. This would help make the totals add across and down the table.
Director Matheson discussed how to collect the data necessary to identify the taxing authority for cities, counties and fire districts. The city and county representatives agreed to collect the data and bring it back to the group for discussion along with responses to the following questions:
The group discussed the Department’s response provided to question #5. There was concern that the response was not broad enough to address the underlining question of contractual rights for LEOFF 1 benefits. There was a discussion about whether the benefits in RCW 41.26.030(22) were subject to contractual right provisions and whether creation of the disability boards and benefits provided by the boards under RCW 41.26.150 were contractual rights. The group agreed to the following revised question for Study Question 5:
The group discussed the Department’s response to question #7. Director Matheson re-iterated that LEOFF 1 was a defined benefit plan in the Department’s view and would be submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as such during the Cycle C filings required under the Pension Protection Act. Only a change in the IRS determination could impact the plan’s qualification.
The group agreed to change the word “surplus” to “excess” in the question to be consistent with the Pension Protection Act of 2006, recognizing surplus and excess are interchangeable for purposes of this committee.
The group discussed the Department’s response to question #9. There was agreement to add language to the response stating that the current LEOFF 1 statutes in RCW 41.26 do not provide the ability to make the “Qualified Future Transfer” defined in the Pension Protection Act (PPA).
Director Matheson handed out a draft copy of the Fact Book she had prepared and asked for comments on the format and presentation of the material. The group liked the format and concurred that responses could be added to the Fact Book once they had been agreed upon by the group.
Director Matheson distributed a list of questions and answers that had been prepared by Bill Kantor. Bill discussed the Facts and Questions document he prepared for the group. The group decided that all the facts and questions presented by Bill were included in the study questions.
The Director also handed out a list of the questions from the 2007 LEOFF 1 Medical Study document. There was a question about the purpose of the 2007 study and whether a chronological history needed to be developed to help group members understand the history of LEOFF 1 and the medical liability. Director Matheson stated that the 2007 study was focused on identifying all the outstanding questions that seemed to be unanswered and listing possible solutions to the medical liability issue. The focus for the current group is to first develop the facts and get agreement on those facts, then decide whether to move on to work on possible solutions. The group’s consensus was that the questions from the 2007 study were either captured in the current questions or will be addressed in future questions.
The group suggested the following item could be added to the study questions:
The next two meetings are scheduled for Tuesday July 8th at 11:00 a.m. in the Humanities Conference Room 1B 2410C and Wednesday July 30th at 11:00 a.m.in the President’s Boardroom at North Seattle Community College. With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m.