County Council denies immediate approval for pension actuarial engagement; asks commissioners to revisit

President Hahn opened the meeting Nov. 6 with an item that had been discussed previously: whether to approve an engagement letter for an actuarial review of the county's police/sheriff pension plan. The commissioners had proposed hiring a consulting firm, with the cost estimated in the $10,000'$20,000 range and to be paid from commissioners' riverboat funds.

Carter Angel, joining by videoconference, identified himself as a pension consultant with 16 years of experience who previously worked at Nyhart, the county's current actuary. Angel said his firm could perform a two-part engagement: a technical plan-health review to match existing liability calculations, or a broader, more expensive advisory engagement to evaluate alternatives to the remediation plan the county received from the state. "If you just funded the ADC, whatever the actuary tells you to fund, from here until the end of time, you'd be fine," Angel told the council while urging the body to clarify what it wanted from outside advice.

Councilors pressed on two themes: meeting the immediate Actuarially Determined Contribution (ADC) for compliance, and whether the county should pursue alternative funding approaches (larger lump sums, borrowing, or different amortization). County staff warned that Nyhart's annual actuarial results for 2024 would be available in March/April and that preliminary internal estimates suggest the county's share of the 2025 contribution could be on the order of $400,000.

Members repeatedly expressed a preference to "slow-walk" contracting: fund what is needed now to bring the plan into compliance and give the council and commissioners time to consider alternatives rather than commit to a consulting contract immediately. Although commissioners had signed or intended to sign an engagement, council members noted that the commissioners normally execute contracts and that the council's role would typically be to appropriate funds if payment is required.

A motion was made to "approve the engagement letter as approved by the county commissioners" and was seconded. In a roll-call vote, Council members Kiefer, Shetler, Dye, Raven, Montresdell and President Hahn voted No; the motion failed. The council recorded the denial and said it would follow up with the commissioners to determine next steps. Carter Angel said he would await contact from the commissioners.

Next steps: the council approved appropriations to meet the ADC for 2024 during the meeting and directed staff and elected officials to coordinate with the commissioners on whether and when to proceed with any external engagement on the pension plan.