HomeMy WebLinkAboutR86-146110
RESOLUTION NO. R86-146
A RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF THE CITY OF PLAINVIEW, TEXAS EXPRESSING OPPOSITION
TO PROPOSED LEGISLATION WHICH ~DULD AT,TOW UNIFORM M~qBERS
OF POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS IN ~ CITIES TO RETIRE
AT HALF PAY AFTER TWENTY YEARS OF SERVICE, WITH NO
RESTRICTION AS TO AGE; AND FOR ADDITIONAL YEARS OF
SERVICE ABOVE TWENTY, A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF THE HIGHEST
AVERAGE SALARY.
WHEREAS, the City of Plainview is a member of the Texas Municipal
Retirement System; and
BRqERFAS, the City of Plainview is opposed to measures which seek to
obtain disparately-favorable treatment of groups of employees or of
individual employees for pension purposes; and .
WHEREAS, the City of Plainview is opposed to such plans for the
cost will be paid by the taxpayer; and
WHEREAS, the personnel problem said special treatment generates
would have an adverse impact on the City employees of the City of
Plainview; and
WHEREAS, one of the most favorable charateristics of the Te~s
Municipal Retirement System is that it treats all employees alike; and
WHEREAS, TMRS has been informed that a bill will likely be
introduced in the next regular session of the legislator which, for
starters, proposes to allow uniform members of police and fire
departments of TMRS Cities to retire at half pay after twenty years of
service, with no restriction as to age; and for additional years of
service above twenty, a higher percentage of the highest average salary;
and
WHEREAS, needless to say, all employees would love to have such a
liberal set of benefits but unforunately, the cost is prohibitive; and
WHEREAS, mzmy of the plans providing for retirement at half-final-
pay after twenty years of service have encountered financial
difficulties of such magnitude that they are presently being revised
downward; and
WHEREAS, people in general are living longer than they use tO, and
that upward trend is continuing. At the present time, the average
person retiring at age 40 can expect to draw a monthly annuity for a
period of nearly 40 years. Stated another way, a person who enters the
City's payroll at age 20 and retires after 20 years will be on the
payroll for the retirement roll for roughly 60 years. Unless the
increases in longevity have been anticipated and adequate contributions
to offset that increase have been required, the plan beccmes seriously
underfunded or even goes broke; and
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WHEREAs, while the pension is phrased in terms of "fiD~l pay" it is
likely that the amount of the pension will not be matierally different
from the average monthly pay drawn by the employee over the twenty year
work period. One reason such benefits are often under-funded is that
contributions are made on the basis of current pay, without taking into
account the fact that the ultimate pension is based on the assumption
that the employee throughout his career made the same amount per month
he made during the three years of his employement in which his pay was
the highest; and
WHEREAS, An attempt to guarantee a minimum retirement benefit of
half the final pay for people retiring after twenty or twenty-five years
certainly deserves the City of Plainview's attention, because the blank
check written against the future is drawn on the City of Plainview's
taxpayers.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT P~SOLVED by the Mayor and City Council of the
City of Plainview that the City of Plainview is opposed to legislation
which proposes to allow uniform mea~ers of Police' and Fire Departments
in TMRS Cities to retire at half-pay after twenty years of service, with
no restriction as to age; and for additional years of service above
twenty, a higher percentage of the highest average salary.
The City of Plainview FURTHER RESOLVES that the City of Plainview
does go on record in urging the TMRS Board to carefully review, and if
deemed feasible to support, legislation which would allow employees to
retire after twenty-five years service regardless of age, with a
somewhat more reduced annuity than the present early retirement
provisions allowed.
1986.
AthirST:
'S~HE~nRYL ~%-City Secretary