Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Opeb Liquidity Performance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Subcommittee hears OPEB, town and Board of Ed investment results; committee notes no trust withdrawals
Summary
Presenters reported year-end gains across the pension plans and the OPEB trust, noted elevated quarter‑end liquidity tied to cash‑flow timing, and confirmed the trust has not been tapped for recurring OPEB obligations.
Simsbury — At its Feb. 4 meeting the Retirement Plan Subcommittee reviewed year‑end balances and liquidity for the town plan, Board of Education plan, police plan and the OPEB trust, and committee members asked for clarification on whether the town was using trust assets to pay current obligations.
Chris, presenter, reported plan-level year‑end invested balances and gains: the town plan showed about $30.5 million in invested assets and an estimated $2.5 million investment gain for the year; the Board of Education plan showed similar year‑end invested assets near $30.5 million and a roughly $2.5 million gain; the police plan reported approximately $22.6 million in invested assets and about $1.8 million in gains. For the OPEB trust the consultant said the pool ended the year near $24.8 million with an approximate $2.1 million gain.
During the conversation Lisa, committee member, asked: "Could you talk about the, issue with liquidity?" Chris and staff explained the elevated liquidity position at quarter‑end was likely a point‑in‑time result of raising cash for upcoming pension payments in January–March and not a structural concern. The presenters said some cash had already been spent for pension payments and that holding higher cash briefly can be normal for quarter‑end operations; they also noted that short‑term cash was earning about 4% in money-market yields at the time.
On OPEB distributions, the group confirmed there were no meaningful outflows from the OPEB trust at the meeting time and that pension and OPEB liabilities were being managed with a mix of current‑pay funding and trust contributions. Chris said that municipal peers sometimes fund current liabilities outside the trust while continuing to build the trust for longer‑term obligations, and that Amy (staff member) could provide more detailed bookkeeping and budget timing in follow-up.
The committee did not authorize any withdrawals from the OPEB trust during the meeting. Staff were asked to follow up with budget office detail about the town’s planned approach to OPEB distributions and cash‑flow timing.
