Pontiac City Council advanced on first reading restated and amended ordinances for the Police & Fire Retirement System and the General Employees Retirement System (GERS), a step city officials say is necessary to clean long-standing ordinance inconsistencies before amendments tied to a federal-court settlement can be applied.

Mayor and legal counsel described the action as housekeeping that consolidates decades of piecemeal changes into single, up-to-date ordinance texts. City legal counsel explained the rewrite: "When we make a change...I would just call out a particular section and say I'm going to change that section and not redo the entire plan document. So tonight what you have are brand new or plans that incorporate every single change you made since back in 02/2007...it's just really incorporating all those changes from a number of years." (Attorney Bartlett)

Why it matters: The restatements do not themselves restore any benefit. They create a clear legal structure so the council can adopt amendments consistent with the federal-court preliminary approval that would reinstate a $400 monthly payment to certain retirees. City officials said the federal judge granted preliminary approval at a Sept. 17 hearing and mailed notices to impacted retirees.

Key points from the meeting:
- The police & fire and GERS ordinances were restated as clean copies that incorporate all past amendments dating back to 2007; the city will use those texts to apply future changes.
- For GERS, the city attorney noted board-requested technical changes: trustees may be active, deferred, vested, or retired members (to ensure the board can fill seats as membership ages), and election timing for board chair/vice chair was adjusted to biennial at the board's request.
- Council members emphasized this vote is a first reading; a second reading is required before final adoption.

Retiree settlement status: Separately, the mayor and other speakers said the federal court held a preliminary-approval hearing on Sept. 17, and notices are being mailed to affected retirees with instructions and deadlines for objections or opt-outs. Final approval from the federal court is pending; council members said they want the ordinances cleaned up so the judge's final orders can be implemented without legal confusion.

Council action: Both pension ordinances cleared first reading by unanimous vote. City staff said they will return the restated ordinances for a second reading next week.

What remains: Final implementation of the $400 benefit depends on the federal court's final order and the council's later amendment of the cleaned-up GERS ordinance to authorize payment. "This is to level set the ordinances, make sure that everyone's on the same page," the mayor told council.