MINUTES FOR THE SPRINGFIELD RETIREMENT BOARD MEETING
70 TAPLEY STREET, SPRINGFIELD, MA 01104
HELD ON NOVEMBER 2, 2016 AT 5:00 P.M.
Present: Robert Moynihan, Patrick Burns, Thomas Scanlon, Haskell Kennedy, Philip Mantoni, Attorney Alfredo ViVenzio, Executive Director Susana Baltazar, Judy Dziobek, Recording Clerk, Michael Nelligan, Brian Goggin, Emilio Arroyo, Matthew P. Cincotta, Attorney Joseph Donnellan
Presentation from Michael Nelligan from Powers and Sullivan (City outside Auditors)
Michael Nelligan was present to give an overview of the audit report completed of the Springfield Retirement System for the year ending December 31, 2015. This report, which included GASB information through the same date provided by PERAC, provide audited information of data used to provide the schedule of employer allocations and the schedule of pension amounts by the employer. It is their opinion that the financial statements, as well as the supplementary information referred to in the report, present fairly in all material respects in accordance with the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Agenda Item #1-Minutes
Motion made by Kennedy to approve the minutes of the meeting held on October 5, 2016, second by Scanlon and voted unanimously.
Agenda Item #2-Superannuations
Motion made by Scanlon to accept the following Superannuations: Mary Brown, Paraprofessional, School Department, with 16 years and 1 month as of 12/24/16; Luis Colon, Project Assistant, Planning Department, with 24 years and 11 months as of 10/18/16; Thomas A. Maccini, Police Lieutenant, Police Department, with 33 years and 10 months as of 10/22/16; Maria Raschilla, Paraprofessional, School Department, with 16 years and 9 months as of 11/5/16; Margaret Rannenberg, Principal Clerk, School Department, with 37 years and 2 months as of 12/31/16; Audeliz Molina, Election Assistant, Election Department, with 11 years and 9 months as of 11/1/16, second by Kennedy and voted unanimously.
Agenda Item #3-Warrants
Motion made by Mantoni to reaffirm the payment of the following warrants: Warrant #40 Refunds in the amount of $210,511.64, Warrant #41 Expenses in the amount of $66,435.71,
Warrant #42 Retiree Payroll in the amount of $6,112,707.81 and redemption from the PRIT fund in the amount of $5,325,000.00, second by Kennedy and voted unanimously
Agenda Item #4-Refunds
Motion made by Mantoni to approve the payment of the fourteen (14) requests for refunds, second by Kennedy and voted unanimously.
Agenda Item #5-Redeposit of Refunds and Makeup of Contributions
Motion made by Kennedy to approve the redeposit of refunds to: Anthony Dickerson, Security Guard, School Department for the refund from Springfield Retirement in 2010; Shante’a Lopez, Paraprofessional, School Department, for the refund from Springfield Retirement in 2016; Israel Rivera, Veterans Investigator, Veterans Department, for the refund from the State Retirement Board in 2015; Travis Wilder, Paraprofessional, School Department, for the refund from Springfield Retirement in 2015, second by Scanlon and voted unanimously.
Motion made by Kennedy to approve the makeup of contributions for: Michael Knowlton, Mechanic, Springfield Housing Authority, purchasing 2 years of employment at the Springfield DPW as a seasonal worker and Frances Schnare, Principal Clerk Typist, School Department, purchasing first six months of employment at the School Department as a Teacher Aide, second by Scanlon and voted unanimously.
Agenda Item #6-Accidental Disability - Timothy Collins/School Department
Motion made by Kennedy to table action on this application until the December 7, 2016 meeting, with no further continuances, second by Burns and voted unanimously.
Agenda Item #7-Accidental Disability – Brian Goggin/Fire Department
Motion made by Kennedy to accept the responses of the medical panel, the evidence of the Accidental Disability application and approve the disability benefits for Brian Goggin, second by Scanlon and voted unanimously.
Agenda Item #8-Accidental Disability – Matthew Cincotta/Fire Department
Motion made by Scanlon to accept the responses of the medical panel and medical panel clarifications, the evidence of the Accidental Disability application and approve the disability benefits for Matthew Cincotta, second by Kennedy and voted unanimously.
Agenda Item #9-Involuntary Accidental Disability- Emilio Arroyo/Police Department
Motion made by Mantoni to accept the responses of the medical panel, the evidence of the Involuntary Accidental Disability application and approve the disability benefits for Emilio Arroyo, second by Kennedy and voted unanimously.
Agenda Item #10-Accidental Disability – Linda Marciniec/School Department
Motion made by Burns to accept the request from Linda Marciniec to decline the Accidental Disability award and withdraw her application for Accidental Disability Retirement, second by Kennedy and voted unanimously.
Agenda Item #11- Benefits under Section 101
Motion made by Mantoni to approve benefits to the survivor of Edward J. Denehy of the Water & Sewer Commission, second by Kennedy and voted unanimously.
Agenda Item #12-Meeting dates for calendar year 2017
Dates were set for the 2017 monthly Board Meetings.
Agenda Item #13-Director’s Report
Executive Director, Susana Baltazar, explained to the Board that the staff has been having more problems with the current retirement software, especially since the software provider has updated its servers. Baltazar stated that we basically only have one customer service representative working on all our concerns. She spoke about the daily calls we receive from members regarding our web calculator that is still not working correctly after the last conversion and the problems running reports for the retiree payroll. Baltazar relayed her concerns to the software provider and asked questions regarding the term of the contract. A motion was made by Kennedy to issue an RFP for Pension Administration Software Services with submissions to be received no later than November 28, 2016, second by Mantoni and voted unanimously.
Ms. Baltazar presented lease information from vendors regarding the office copier/printer. A motion was made by Kennedy to award the lease to the current vendor for a Ricoh copier/printer, second by Scanlon, and voted unanimously.
The Executive Director spoke to the Board regarding the Death Record Search Services that are currently being provided. This is an essential service and there is another company that also provides the service that issues weekly reports instead of monthly reports. Ms. Baltazar will report back to the Board with more information.
The Executive Director resubmitted the 2017 Administrative Budget and after review, a motion was made by Burns to approve and adopt the calendar year 2017 Administrative Budget as proposed, in the amount of $2,894,369.87, second by Scanlon, and voted unanimously.
Ms. Baltazar also informed the Board that the PERAC disability approval was received for Alejandro Colon-DPW.
Agenda Item #14-Attorney’s Report
None
Agenda Item #15-Old Business
None
Agenda Item #16-New Business
None
F. Y. I. PERAC Memos #24 Mandatory Retirement Board Member Training – 4th Quarter 2016, #25 Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) Summary, #26 Appropriation Data Due October 31, 2016, PERAC-GASB Information , PERAC Correspondence regarding Pension Forfeiture/Section 15, PERAC Newsflash-Commissioner Brown Re-Elected Chairman, September PRIT Fund Update, Boston Millennia 3rd Quarter reports, Trial Balance, Adjusting Entries, Receipts, Disbursements and General Ledger for the month of September, Budget Balances as of October, Monthly Transfers for October, Recent Retiree Deaths, Treasurer’s Reconciliation for the month of September
Motion made by Kennedy to adjourn at 6:03 P.M. second by Scanlon and voted unanimously.
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Robert P. Moynihan, Chairman
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Thomas M. Scanlon, Elected Member
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Haskell Kennedy, Appointed Member
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Patrick S. Burns, Appointed Member
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Philip J. Mantoni, 5th Member