Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Employee Pensions topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Palatka workshop weighs fixing fluctuating police and fire pension multipliers
Summary
At a Palatka pension workshop, a Foster & Foster consultant reviewed how state insurance premium allocations and fund performance change annual multipliers for retired police and firefighters and sought retiree input on whether to fix the multiplier or keep it variable; no ordinance or vote was taken.
Patrick, a consultant with Foster & Foster, told retirees at a Palatka pension workshop that the additional pension multiplier paid from state insurance-premium allocations will change on Oct. 1, 2025, and asked whether retirees prefer keeping the multiplier variable or fixing it by ordinance.
The topic matters to retired police officers and firefighters because the city currently applies a baseline multiplier (2.5, the same as general employees) plus an additional multiplier funded by state-collected insurance-premium allocations. Patrick said that for firefighters the additional multiplier fell from 0.85 to 0.65 on Oct. 1, 2023, and is projected to rise to 0.72 on Oct. 1, 2025, giving a combined multiplier example of 3.22 if a retiree’s base is 2.5. For police, he said the additional multiplier would increase from 0.55 to 0.63 on Oct. 1, 2025.
Patrick said the plan’s valuation date is Oct. 1 each year and that the Oct. 1, 2024, valuation produced the numbers discussed. He explained the source of the monies: for firefighters, state allocations come from 1.85% of certain property insurance premiums; for police, he said the allocation is 0.85% tied to auto/casualty insurance. He also described that the accumulation available for the multiplier depends both on those annual receipts and on investment performance.
Patrick described options if the group wanted to stop year-to-year volatility: fixing the multiplier in a city ordinance would stabilize monthly retirement checks but could require negotiating how future state monies are used. He said one option would be to direct amounts above a specified threshold into another vehicle such as a negotiated share plan or a thirteenth check but that no such share plan currently exists.
Retirees and attendees responded with questions about timing, process and who would decide any change. One retiree asked whether the city commission would have to vote to fix the multiplier; a board facilitator confirmed that changing the multiplier would require a city ordinance. Patrick said pension benefits are negotiable under state law unless both the city and the unions agree to waive bargaining rights; if both sides waived bargaining, the city could adopt changes by ordinance without collective-bargaining negotiations.
A board member told the audience that Burgess Chambers provides regular financial reports to the board and encouraged retirees to attend pension-board meetings to hear detailed quarterly and annual performance information. Several retirees said they were inclined to leave the multiplier variable given the time and process required to change an ordinance; one said, "For me, it might be better just to leave things the way they are." Patrick summarized that he "didn't really hear a lot of, you know, I really need my benefit to be fixed" and said he would report the general sentiment to city decision-makers.
No formal motion, vote or ordinance was proposed or adopted at the workshop. The session was an information and input meeting; Patrick and board members encouraged retirees to monitor agendas, contact bargaining representatives and attend future meetings if they want to weigh in when any formal proposal reaches the city commission.
Background details discussed at the workshop: the additional multiplier has fluctuated over decades based on state receipts and investment returns; the plan performs a valuation each Oct. 1; collective-bargaining processes typically play a role when benefits change; and the city commission would enact any ordinance that fixes the multiplier. The workshop did not set dates for any ordinance or formal action.
