HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-05-2025 MinutesCITY OF OCOEE
MUNICIPAL
BOARD OF TRUSTEES QUARTERLY MEETING MINUTES
City Hall, Commission Chambers
I N. Bluford Avenue, Ocoee, FL 34761
Wednesday, February 5, 2025 - 1 O-OOAM
TRUSTEES PRESENT: Gequita "Gee" Cowan, Chair
Steven Sanders, Vice Chair
Patricia "Pat" Gleason, Secretary
Gary Gleason
Shannon Hopper
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OTHERS PRESENT: Pedro Herrera, Sugarman, Susskind, Braswell & Herrera
Chrissy Stoker, Foster & Foster
Tiffany Fair, Foster & Foster
Doug Lozen, Foster & Foster
Kandyce Moss, Foster & Foster
Jorge Friguls, Mariner Institutional
Patrick Smith, Saltmarsh, Cleaveland, & Gund
Members of the Plan
Members of the Public
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4. Approval of Minutes
a. November 6, 2024, quarterly meeting
S. New Business — None.
6. Reports (Attorney/Consultants)
a. Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund, Patrick Smith, Auditor
L September 30, 2024, audited financial statements
1 . Patrick Smith thanked the Board for their business and thanked Foster
& Foster for their assistance with the audit.
2. Patrick Smith stated, in their opinion, the financial statements
presented fairly, in all material respects, information regarding the
fiduciary net position of the Plan as of September 30, 2024, and 2023,
and the changes in fiduciary net position for the years then ended in
accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the
United States of America. Patrick confirmed they were issuing a clean,
unmodified opinion which was the best opinion they could issue.
3. Patrick Smith stated total assets increased from $44,325,821 as of
September 30, 2023, to $52,056,078 as of September 30, 2024. After
liabilities totaling $144,469, the net position restricted for pensions
was $51,911,609.
4. Patrick Smith reviewed the additions to the net position, highlighting
that the net appreciation of the fair value of investments increased
from $2,064,502 in 2023 to $7,263,954 in 2024.
5Patrick Smith reviewed the deductions attributed to benefit payments,
lump sum distributions, and administrative expenses. Deductions
totaled $2,786,169 in 2024 compared to $3,072,192 in 2023.
6. Patrick Smith discussed "Note 6 — Investments" and pointed out the
fair value of investments in 2024 was $51,708,479 relative to the cost
of $42,037,795.
7. Patrick Smith commented the amount restricted for the Deferred
Retirement Option Program (DROP) accounts was $1,065,259, and
this amount was fully funded.
8. The City's net pension liability at the current discount rate of 7.00%
was $3,224,224. The Plan fiduciary net position expressed as a
percentage of total pension liability was 94.16%. Patrick Smith briefly
illustrated the impact of increasing and decreasing the discount rate
by 1.00% to show the sensitivity of the discount rate.
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9. Patrick Smith reviewed the schedule of investment and administrative
expenses, both of which showed a decrease from the prior year.
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10.Patrick Smith briefly reviewed the audit conclusion letter and
confirmed there were no issues. There were two items still pending
before the final audit would be issued and distributed.
b. Foster & Foster, Douq Lozen, Board Actuary
L October 1, 2024, actuarial valuation report
lo Doug Lozen reminded the Board the results shown in this report were
applicable to the City's funding requirement for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2026.
Z The Minimum Required Contribution increased slightly from 16.73%
to 17.23% as a percentage of projected annual payroll. The City
required contribution increased from 9.36% to 9.85% of payroll. The
increase was attributable to unfavorable actuarial experience.
Sources of actuarial loss included more retirements than expected
and an average salary increase of 7.82% which exceeded the 4.36%
assumption. These losses were offset in part by gains associated with
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inactive mortality experience and an investment return of 7.30%
(Actuarial Asset Basis) which exceeded the 7.00% assumption.
3. Doug Lozen noted the City overfunded when they could, so they had
access to a prepaid contribution of $35,652.88 that could be used to
offset the required payment.
4. Doug Lozen reminded the Board they smoothed assets over four
years, and the smoothed return was 7.30% which exceeded the
7.00% assumption. They also had a great investment gain this year
which would stay with them for the next three years.
5. The funded status was approximately 90%.
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6. Doug Lozeh advised the Board the last experience study Was done in
November 2019, and the best practice was to have a study done every
five years or so to review the assumptions being used for valuation
purposes, compare them to actual plan experience, and adjust any
assumptions as needed. The cost of the study was $13,000.
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carried 6-0.
c. Mariner Institutional, Jorge Ffiguls, Investment Consultant
i. Quarterly Report as of December 31, 2024
1 . Jorge Friguls introduced himself and advised the Board he Was
present to deliver the quarterly report on behalf of Brad Hess who had
a personal emergency and could not attend the meeting.
2. Jorge Friguls gave an overview of the market environment over the
quarter, noting it had been a strong year overall, but it was an odd
quarter. Domestic equity outperformed leading up to the presidential
election while bonds and international equity underperformed. Rate
cuts were expected but did not take place, and there was an inversion
of value and growth. Jorge noted the pension fund portfolio had a
value tilt, so this inversion impacted the Fund's returns,
3. Jorge Friguls reviewed the schedule of investment assets over the last
ten years.
4. The market value of assets as of December 31, 2024, was
$50,694,712. Jorge Friguls noted the value of the Fund as of today
was approximately $51.7 million.
5Jorge Friguls reviewed the actual asset allocations relative to the
Investment Policy targets and did not recommend any rebalancing.
6. Jorge Friguls reviewed the financial reconciliation for the Fund over
the quarter to illustrate the cash flows and advised they could take
some from value equities if they had any cash flow needs.
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7. The total fund gross returns for the quarter were -1.64%. Traili
returns for the 1, 3, 5, and 10-year periods were 10.35%, 1.500
6.22% and 6.96%, respectively. Since the inception (04/01/2004), tot
fund gross returns were 6.94%.
d. Sugarman & Susskind, Pedro Herrera, Board Attorney
i. Debit card usage policy draft
1 . Pedro Herrera presented a drafted debit card usage policy to provide
parameters for the trustees to use the cards while travelling for
education. Pedro pointed out Section 9 of the policy could be removed
because it was not applicable.
2. Gequita Cowan stated for the record the charges would be deducted
from the balance in the account and would be replenished by
submitting a direction letter to Salem Trust.
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and second by Gary Gleason; motion carried 6-0.
ii. Plan Restatement
1 . Pedro Herrera presented a drafted Restatement Which was a clea
and current version of the full Plan document with all amendments th
had been adopted since the last restatement from 2009.
Z Gequita Cowan requested the trustees take their time to review th
document before the next meeting so everyone had enough time t
ensure it was ready for adoption.
3. It was the consensus of the Board that approval of the Pla
Restatement should be tabled until the April meeting.
Legislative Updates
I . Pedro Herrera reviewed new Florida statutes that required vendors
confirm they did not utilize coercion as a labor practice or work wit
any of the listed foreign countries of concern.
2. Pedro Herrera advised that the Windfall Elimination provision Wa
repealed in January 2025 which removed the offset for peopi
receiving benefits that did not pay into Social Security while employe
The effective date was January 2024, so some people would recei
retroactive adjustments. Pedro noted an estimated three millio
people were impacted by this change.
7. Old Business
a. Medical insurance deductions from retiree benefit payments
i. Chrissy Stoker informed the Board she was working with Gequita Cowan,
Jenefta Wilson, and Salem Trust to set up medical premium deductions from
monthly benefit payments for retirees who were still on the City's group plan.
The first deductions would be in conjunction with the March 1, 2025, benefit
payments for those retirees who elected to opt in. New retirees who chose to
keep the City's medical plan would be set up with deductions automatically.
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8. Consent Agenda
a. Payment ratification
i. Warrants #118 and #119
b. New invoices for payment approval
i. None
c. Fund activity report for October 31, 2024 — January 29, 2025
second by Shannon Hopper: motion carried 5-0.
9. Staff Reports, Discussion, and Action
a. Foster & Foster, Chrissy Stoker/Tiffany Fair, Plan Administrators
i. Update on quorum confirmation process
1 . Tiffany Fair advised the trustees Foster & Foster established an
email address for the specific purpose of confirming quorums or
meetings. The trustees could expect to be contacted by
Quorums@foster-foster.com. Tiffany confirmed this was a safe
sender and asked the trustees to be responsive to this email
address.
Fiduciary liability insurance policy renewal
1 . Tiffany Fair presented a renewal quote for another three-year policy.
The total annual premium was $6,767 for a three-year total premium
of $20,504.01 (including fees). Pedro Herrera confirmed this fee was
in line with other carriers and the coverage limit of one million was
appropriate though it would not be unreasonable for the Board to
consider quotes for policies with higher coverage in the future.
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iii. Third Party Administrator fee proposal letter
1. This item was tabled until next meeting when the Board could review
billing charges over the last three months at which point they would
decide whether to accept Option A or Option B.
iv. Upcoming Educational opportunities
1. Tiffany Fair reviewed the upcoming educational opportunities.
v. Chrissy Stoker gave an update on the total refunds of contributions still owed
to non -vested employees who had separated from employment. The City of
Ocoee had been proactive with providing information to Foster & Foster when
employees terminated, and Foster & Foster had been proactive with
contacting the former employees, but distributions could not be issued without
the proper paperwork completed by the former plan participant.
10. Trustees' Reports, Discussion, and Action
a. Gequita Gowan extended her condolences to Steven Sanders for a personal loss.
11. Chairperson's Repo
a. Gequita Cowan shared her experience at the Trustee Leadership Class which would
conclude in April 2025. Gequita explained the Sunday before the schools was meant
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for new trustees only, which allowed them to receive undivided attention from the
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b. Gequita Cowan expressed an interest in tracking Plan expenses. Pedro Herrera
advised Police and Fire defined benefit plans were required to have an annual
budget and submit a report of their actual expenses at the end of each fiscal year.
c. Chrissy Stoker advised the trustees to be on the lookout for an email from the State
regarding the annual financial disclosure form requirement.
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tiliny Fair, Plan Administrator
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