Waukesha City board approves MetLife Roth option for deferred compensation plan

The Waukesha City Deferred Compensation Board voted unanimously Tuesday to add a MetLife Roth option to the city’s deferred compensation offerings and authorized staff to complete the enrollment paperwork.

Representatives from MassMutual and MetLife presented the proposal. Scott Goodwin, a MassMutual representative, said MassMutual now distributes a MetLife product that includes a Roth payroll‑deduction option and recommended the board allow employees to use that option without creating additional paperwork or cost for the city. "We're just simply going to be using the MetLife" option, Goodwin said, adding that the existing third‑party administrator would continue processing enrollments.

Dan Detloff, the other MassMutual/MetLife representative at the meeting, described the retirement‑savings benefits of a Roth option, saying employees could invest after‑tax dollars and later withdraw qualified distributions tax free. He told the board MetLife offers broader investment choices and lower internal costs compared with the existing Bright House product and noted the change would improve portability for employees leaving city service. "There's no cost or no change to the city to add the Roth," Detloff said.

Board members asked about employee education and administrative steps. Goodwin said the vendors plan outreach after the new year, including meetings by department and quarterly or semiannual presentations, and that routine approvals would be handled through the city’s administrator. He also told the board the administrator requires a signed list of authorized signers if the board wishes to allow additional HR staff to execute enrollment paperwork.

A board member moved to add the MetLife Roth IRA to the city's deferred compensation offerings and to authorize Kaylee (HR staff) to execute the paperwork; the Chair amended the motion to explicitly permit any designated HR staff member to sign those forms when authorized by the board. The motion, as amended, passed unanimously. A vendor participant said on the record that the motion had "passed unanimously."

The board did not adopt changes to the third‑party administrator itself; vendors said existing administrative processes and the current administrator (referenced in the transcript as "Great Gadsby") will continue to handle enrollments and approvals. Vendors cited contribution limits and payroll‑deduction capacity during the presentation; the figures were presented by the vendor as examples during discussion and may be approximate.

The meeting adjourned immediately after the vote.