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Council approves first readings updating retirement ordinances to new federal RMD ages
Summary
Pontiac City Council approved first readings to amend city pension ordinances to conform with the federal Secure Act 2 required beginning dates for required minimum distributions (RMDs).
Pontiac City Council on March 11 approved first-reading amendments to municipal pension ordinances to conform with federal law changes in the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act and SECURE 2.
The measures update required beginning dates for required minimum distributions (RMDs) used by the General Employees Retirement System (GERS), the reinstated General Employees Retirement System (ReGURS) and the Police and Fire Retirement System. Attorney Mickey Bartlett, representing Miller Canfield, told council the changes are administrative: they align city pension ordinances with Internal Revenue Code rules raising RMD ages to 72, 73 or 75 depending on birth year.
Nut graf: The resolutions were approved as first readings for statutory compliance and will return for final readings; council members clarified the amendments do not change benefit amounts or bind the city to new payments beyond the statutory timing change.
Bartlett said trustees of the affected plans had unanimously approved the changes and that the amendments do not alter benefit formulas. “This is a statutory change, so with pensions they’re so heavily regulated. This is something coming straight from the IRS,” Bartlett said.
Council members asked whether beneficiary or other plan disputes were implicated; Bartlett and city staff said related administrative questions would be handled separately and that the Secure Act amendments simply change the age at which benefits must start.
Both first-reading resolutions passed on recorded votes of 6-0: the amendment for GERS and ReGURS (moved by Pro Tem Carrington; seconded by Councilman Parker) and the amendment for the Police and Fire plan (moved by Pro Tem Carrington; seconded by Councilwoman Jones). Both will return for final adoption at a subsequent council meeting.
Ending: City staff said additional plan amendments are anticipated and that several will be brought back after actuarial review to confirm any fiscal effects.
