October 17, 2016
Public Safety Personnel Retirement System
State of Arizona
October 17, 2016
Feedback to risk pooling, board consolidation study sought
PSPRS to host stakeholder sessions to review recommendations
PHOENIX – PSPRS stakeholders, including local boards, employers and members, are invited to review and comment on the findings of a draft report pertaining to possible local board consolidation and employer liability risk pooling.
The study commissioned by PSPRS and mandated by state law, intends “to determine various methods in which risk pooling may be structured and local board consolidation and structure may be accomplished and to determine which methods, if any, are in the best interests of the public safety personnel retirement system’s fund, members, beneficiaries and employers.” The draft report, authored by Cortex Applied Research, is available on the PSPRS website.
The deadline for stakeholder feedback on the draft report is Friday, November 18, 2016. All submissions desiring to be considered in the final report must be in writing and sent electronically to PSPRS System Administrator Jared Smout at [email protected].
Town hall-style sessions about the draft report and recommendations will be held at the PSPRS office in Phoenix on Wednesday, November 2 and Thursday, November 3. These meetings, hosted by PSPRS and Cortex Applied Research officials, are intended to answer follow-up questions to the report’s recommendations and seek informal feedback from stakeholders. Therefore, stakeholders are highly encouraged to read the attached draft report prior to attending the sessions.
Seating is limited so there will be four separate sessions; one in the morning and afternoon on each day. The meetings will occur from 9 am to noon and 1 pm to 4 pm to give plenty of time for discussion. Registration to attend is on a first-come, first-serve basis, although the afternoon meeting on November 2 and the morning meeting on November 3 can be viewed online through PSPRS webinar services that are not subject to audience limits.
Questions intended for both the in-person meetings and webinar sessions can be submitted to Mr. Smout beforehand to help Cortex Applied Research and PSPRS officials prepare and address all questions, concerns and comments.
To register to attend a board consolidation and liability risk pooling study session in person please contact PSPRS Local Board Training Coordinator Don Mineer at [email protected] or call 602-296-2543.
Click here to register to watch the November 2 afternoon session through PSPRS webinar services.
Click here to register to watch the November 3 morning session through PSPRS webinar services.
Formal comments submitted by the deadline, along with general feedback from the meetings, will be used to help formulate the final report that will be presented in December to both the current Board of Trustees and the pending Board of Trustees yet to be appointed by the Governor, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives. It is required that these yet-to-be-named trustees will consider the conclusions of this final report and present its recommendations for legislation before February 15, 2017.
Passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Doug Ducey in February, SB1428 required the board consolidation and risk pooling study and established reforms to Arizona’s public safety pension system. These reforms included a new structure for the Board of Trustees, a new benefit tier for future employees and changes to methods used to provide pension increases to retirees.
Click here for the Cortex study
