Budget committee recommends sending pension amendment to full Board

The Budget & Finance Committee on Jan. 8 voted to forward Resolution 28 25-97 to the full Board of Mayor and Aldermen for consideration. Staff said the resolution would amend the City of Franklin's closed and restated employee pension plan (closed to new hires as of Dec. 31, 2016) to give the mayor greater latitude in assigning duties currently handled by the Employee Pension Committee.

Christine, a staff presenter, told the committee the closed plan dates to 1971 and that investments and benefit payments for employees hired since 2017 are administered by the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS). "The state treasurer's office does administer the investments for that closed pension plan. They do serve as our paying agent," she said, describing the shift of most administration to the state.

Staff said the Employee Pension Committee unanimously recommended the amendment. Committee members discussed how the proposed change would allow the mayor to assign oversight tasks to existing committees and noted the pension committee would retain some responsibilities and that special "spotlight" meetings would be held at least twice a year with HR benefits staff present for transparency.

A committee member moved to recommend the amendment to the full Board; the committee voted by roll call to forward the item and the chair confirmed it will appear at the Board's second meeting in January. The committee did not take a final action to change the pension plan itself; it only voted to send the resolution for Board consideration.

Next steps: the resolution will appear before the Board of Mayor and Aldermen at its next regularly scheduled meeting for formal consideration and any final vote.