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March 20, 2014
TRUSTEES PRESENT
Peter Blum
Robert Baus
Sandra Fae Brown-Brewton
Michael Carey
Charles Casella
Robert Coffey
Paul Fortier
Steve Greatorex
Sal Luciano
Laila Mandour
Ronald McLellan
Claude Poulin
Linda Yelmini
Richard Cosgrove
EX OFFICIO MEMBERS
Martha Carlson, Deputy Comptroller
Lee Ann Palladino, CIO, State Treasurer
MUNICIPAL LIAISON
Thomas Landry
OTHERS PRESENT
Brenda Halpin, Director Retirement Services Division
Colin Newman, Assistant Division Director, Retirement Services Division
Michael Rose, Counsel to the Commission
Gail Gregoriades, Court Reporter
GUESTS
Donna Fieldhouse
Attorney Aguiar
Attorney Santos
Vincent DeRosa Jr.
CALL TO ORDER
The Chairman called the meeting to order at 9:15 a.m.
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
A Freedom of Information request from Virginia Brown was sent to various Trustees. This will be discussed later with our attorney.
A Freedom of Information request from David Leff was sent to the Trustees. This will be discussed later with our attorney.
Discussion on positions needed in the Retirement Division. Mr. Luciano made a motion to send a letter to OPM requesting the positions needed. Ms. Brown-Brewton seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Unanimous Decision.
Discussion is needed concerning the Medical Examining Board. We will hold a Special Meeting of the Commission to discuss on Friday, March 28, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. The conference phone will be available for those who can't attend in person.
On the Macari matter we have a Memorandum of Decision
I attended a meeting the Treasurer on the 415 matter.
Division Director's Administrative Report for the Retirement Commission
Employee Benefit Statements - We completed and posted the RFP, the current
contract expires April 30, 2014.
Following the close of the March retirement payroll, the Division processed 129
new retirees (116 normal, 0 disabilities, 10 Voluntary Pending and 3 Hybrid).
Finalizations for the month of March were 93 normal and 6 disabilities. The
total number of the backlog on unfinalized retirement records is approximately
11,806.
We have received a total of 1,034 requests to transfer from the ARP to Hybrid.
Of that number 861 were transfers, 160 retirees, 9 waivers, 4 prospective. We
received in 41 applications during the month.
Pending Disability Applications as of February 28, 2014
Pending Applications:
221
Applications preliminarily reviewed-
47
Applications waiting for documentation - 174
Applications scheduled:
208
Total Pending:
429
FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY
Number of Applications Received
16
Number of Applications on Agenda
0
Number of Applications Approved
0
The meeting for February was rescheduled. The next available meeting for
scheduling is October 2014.
A new Assistant Division Director will be starting tomorrow, Donald Wilkerson.
He will be responsible for the Audit Unit and the Purchasing Unit. I will
introduce him to the Commission at the meeting next month.
The actuaries will be providing educational information regarding GASB 67 & 68
at two seminars. The first one is with the Office of the State Treasurer -
Public Finance Outlook Conference on Thursday, April 3rd, Rentschler Field in
East Hartford. The second one is with the CT Society of CPA's on Thursday, May
15th.
NEW MATTERS
1. REQUEST COMMISSION APPROVAL OF THE FEBRUARY 20, 2014 MINUTES - AS AMENDED Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the minutes of the February 20, 2014 Commission meeting as amended. All voted in favor
Unanimous Decision
2. REQUEST COMMISSION APPROVAL OF THE STATE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT COMMISSION CHAIRMAN'S PER DIEM EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENTS Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Casella to approve the State Employees Retirement Commission Chairman's Per Diem Expense reimbursements. All voted in favor
Unanimous Decision
3. REQUEST COMMISSION APPROVAL OF THE CONNECTICUT STATE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM SERVICE RETIREMENTS FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2014 Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the Connecticut State Employee Retirement System Service Retirements for the month of February 2014. All voted in favor
Unanimous Decision
4. REQUEST COMMISSION APPROVAL OF THE CONNECTICUT STATE EMPLOYEES SYSTEM PRE-RETIREMENT DEATH RETIREMENTS FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2014 Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the Connecticut State Employees System Pre-Retirement Death Retirements for the month of February 2014. All voted in favor
Unanimous Decision
5. REQUEST COMMISSION APPROVAL OF THE CONNECTICUT STATE EMPLOYEES SYSTEM VOLUNTARY PENDING RETIREMENTS FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2014 Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the Connecticut State Employees System Voluntary Pending Retirements for the month of February 2014. All voted in favor
Unanimous Decision
6. REQUEST COMMISSION APPROVAL OF THE CONNECTICUT EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM DISABILITY RETIREMENTS FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2014 Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the Connecticut Employees Retirement System Disability Retirements for the month of February 2014. All voted in favor
Unanimous Decision
7. REQUEST COMMISSION APPROVAL OF THE MUNICIPAL RETIREMENT SYSTEM RETIREMENTS Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the Municipal Retirement System Retirements. All voted in favor
Unanimous Decision
8. REQUEST COMMISSION APPROVAL OF THE CONNECTICUT PROBATE JUDGES AND EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM RETIREMENTS Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the Connecticut Probate Judges and Employees Retirement System Retirements. All voted in favor
Unanimous Decision
9. REQUEST COMMISSION APPROVAL OF THE STATE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT COMMISSION MANAGEMENT TRUSTEES PER DIEM AND TRAVEL EXPENSES REIMBURSEMENTS Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the State Employees Retirement Commission Management Trustees Per Diem and Travel Expense Reimbursements. All voted in favor Mr. Baus abstained
Unanimous Decision
10. REQUEST COMMISSION APPROVAL OF THE STATE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT COMMISSION UNION TRUSTEES PER DIEM AND TRAVEL EXPENSES REIMBURSEMENTS Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the State Employees Retirement Commission Union Trustees Per Diem and Travel Expense Reimbursements. All voted in favor Mr. Poulin abstained
Unanimous Decision
11. REQUEST COMMISSION ACCEPTANCE OF RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE MEDICAL EXAMINING BOARD RELATIVE TO APPLICATIONS FOR DISABILITY RETIREMENT RECEIVED FROM THE MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to accept the recommendations of the Medical Examining Board relative to applications for disability retirement received from the Municipal Employees Retirement System. All voted in favor
Unanimous Decision
12. REQUEST COMMISSION APPROVAL OF THE CONNECTICUT PROBATE JUDGES AND EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT FUND PERSONNEL EXPENSES FROM JANUARY 10, 2014 THROUGH FEBRUARY 6, 2014. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the Connecticut Probate Judges and Employees Retirement Fund Personnel Expenses from January 10, 2014 through February 6, 2014. All voted in favor
Unanimous Decision
13. REQUEST THAT THE STATE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT COMMISSION REVIEW AND
RECONSIDER ITS DECEMBER 20, 2012 DENIAL OF VINCENT DeROSA'S CLAIM
CONCERNING HIS RETIREMENT BENEFIT Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex
to table this item until the May Retirement Commission meeting. All voted in
favor
Unanimous Decision
14. REQUEST THAT THE STATE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT COMMISSION REVIEW AND RECONSIDER ITS DECEMBER 20, 2012 DENIAL OF DONNA FIELDHOUSE'S CLAIM THAT SHE RECEIVE PRE-RETIREMENT DEATH BENEFITS Ms. Yelmini moved, seconded by Mr. McLellan to table this item until the April meeting. All voted in favor
Unanimous Decision
15. REQUEST THAT THE STATE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT COMMISSION APPROVE THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON REGULATIONS AND OVERPAYMENTS FROM ITS MEETING ON FEBRUARY 25, 2014 Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to approve the recommendations of the Subcommittee on Regulations and Overpayments from its meeting on February 25, 2014. All voted in favor
Unanimous Decision
16. REQUEST COMMISSION DISCUSSION AND/OR RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE REGULATIONS AND OVERPAYMENT SUBCOMMITTEE PERTAINING TO ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Mr. Casella moved, seconded by Mr. Poulin to divide this item into two separate parts. All agreed. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Casella to approve the recommendations of the Regulations and Overpayment Subcommittee pertaining to Accounts Receivable. Discussion began on the item concerning the use of DAS to collect debt through Probate Court if the person has expired. DAS is not used by the Division, but is working with the Attorney General's office at this time. Discussion continued about the charging of interest for those who are found at fault for not notifying the Division if Social Security or Workers Compensation payments made to them. Mr. Casella asked Ms. Halpin what the interest rate was, he believed it was 8%. Ms. Halpin answered that it was in fact 5%. Mr. Casella moved, seconded by Mr. Carey to charge interest of 5% for those who fail to comply, but waive interest for those found to not be at fault. Ms. Brown-Brewton voted NO, Ms. Yelmini Abstained , Mr. Baus, Mr. Carey, Mr. Casella, Mr. Coffey, Mr. Fortier, Mr. Greatorex, Mr. Luciano, Ms. Mandour, Mr. McLellan, Mr. Poulin and Mr. Cosgrove voted YES Motion passed
Mr. Casella moved, seconded by Ms. Yelmini to reconsider the prior motion. All voted in favor two-thirds vote was met.
Mr. Casella moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to adopt the Subcommittees
recommendations
Mr. Cosgrove voted NO, Mr. Baus, Ms. Brown-Brewton, Mr. Carey, Mr.
Casella, Mr. Coffey,
Mr. Fortier, Mr. Greatorex, Mr. Luciano, Ms. Mandour, Mr. McLellan, Mr. Poulin,
Ms. Yelmini voted YES
Majority Decision
Following further discussion Trustees moved that Item #16 be TABLED until Trustees have read Section 3-7 of the Connecticut General Statutes. All voted in favor
Unanimous Decision
17. DISCUSSION ON TOWN OF THOMPSON'S COMPLIANCE WITH MERS REGULATIONS Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Mr. Greatorex to have Attorney Michael Rose, Counsel to the Commission review the materials from the Town of Thompson and return to the Commission with recommendations. All voted in favor
Unanimous Decision
TABLED ITEMS
REQUEST FROM JOSEPH MATURO THAT THE COMMISSION REVIEW AND REINSTATE HIS
DISABILITY RETIREMENT BENEFIT - item tabled until the May meeting
EXECUTIVE SESSION
At 11:19 a.m. Ms. Brown-Brewton moved, seconded by Mr. Luciano to move into Executive Session to discuss the RoseKallor contract.
At 12:16 p.m. Mr. Luciano moved, seconded by Ms. Yelmini to come out of Executive Session.
No motion was made on the Contract for Legal Services.
At 12:22 p.m. The Commission returned to Executive Session to discuss a
pending claim/litigation for the Leff matter with Attorney Rose joining. No
motion made
At 12:31p.m. Ms. Brown-Brewton moved, seconded by Mr. Coffey to come out of Executive Session.
No motion was made on the RFP for Legal Services pertaining to IRS matters.
No motion was made on the Leff matter.
ADJOURNMENT
At 12:34 p.m. Ms. Brown-Brewton moved to adjourn.
| _________________________ | _______________________ |
| Brenda K. Halpin, Director | Peter R. Blum, Chair |
| Retirement Services Division |
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