On January 25, 2011, City Council created this group to: 1) look at the need for any future changes to defined benefit pension plans created under the authority of City Council; 2) examine the current financial status of the City's pension funds; and 3) advise the City manager, the City Council Pension and Compensation Subcommittee, and City Council on any options that should be considered. For more information, read Resolution 2432 which describes Group's task.

The Group produced a final report after meeting from March through October. During those eight months the Group reviewed information on the City retirement plans, retirement plans for local comparator jurisdictions, and reports on changes being considered or made to local and national retirement plans. The information that the group reviewed is included in or described in the report and can be found below. The final report includes the following key sections:

• Section I Executive Summary
• Section XIII Findings & Observations
• Section XIV Recommendations

The Group sought public feedback in order to produce the final report. A comment board appeared on the City web page from early August to late September to accept public comments. This comment board was advertised on the main City web page and in the August edition of FYI Alexandria. The employee group representatives received input from their employees in meetings, phone calls, and a survey for the General Schedule employees. Beginning in August, the Group provided persons attending its meetings the opportunity to speak to the Group.

The Group met from March through October. The meetings, which were open to the public, were posted on the City calendar and on this page. Click on the date to see the meeting agenda and links to handouts. See the bottom of this page for a link to all materials that were provided to the Group during their meetings.

*An audio recording is included because the video recording stopped after one hour.

Following are links to reports and documents that related to the Group's mission. Some, but not all, of these reports and documents were reviewed by the Group during their meetings.

A. Public Retirement Plan Issues and Trends

1. GASB development
   • Update on the GASB Pension Accounting Project, presented by Steve McElhaney, FSA, Cheiron
2. Federal legislative developments
3. Other state and other local governmental pension trends
   • 2008 Comparative Study of Major Public Employee Retirement Systems prepared by Daniel Schmidt, Senior Analyst, Wisconsin Legislative Council, December 2009; data summary created by City Retirement Administrator
   • Pew Center on the States, April 25, 2011: "The Widening Gap:The Great Recession's Impact on State Pension and Retiree Health Costs"
   • The Washington Examiner, Thursday, May 19, 2011, by Brian Hughes: "MontCo Council approves $33m in pension, health cuts"
   • Article, Pension & Investments Online, May 4, 2011, by Hazel Bradford: "Maryland state workers to put more into pension plans"
   • Report by Hank Kim, Executive Director and Counsel, National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS), Before the Committee of Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight submitted May 5, 2011: "On the Record Statement Regarding the Funding and Transparency of State and Local Pension Plans"
   • Elected Official Toolkit produced by the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) as a primer on the funding of public employee pension and retiree health benefits, April 25, 2011.
   • Article, The Washington Examiner, Sunday, June 5, 2011, by Brian Hughes: MontCo Council puts target on police union, disability benefits
   • Article, California Governor Brown to Seek Sweeping Pension Cuts, Fox News.com, October 27, 2011
   • Report: A Better Bang for New York City's Buck - An Efficiency Comparison of Defined Benefit Pension Plans and Defined Contribution Retirement Savings Plan, October 2011, New York City Controller and the National Institute on Retirement Security
   • Article: Rhode Is
4. Local comparator jurisdictions
   • Benefits overview of local comparators (Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon, Montgomery, Prince Georges, and Prince William Counties)
   • 2008 Watson Wyatt COMPARISONTM Study Reports NEW
     • Police Employees Report
     • Fire Employees Report
     • ERT Employees Report
     • Sheriff Employees Report
     • General Employees Report
5. Virginia Developments including VRS
   • Legislative positions recommended by VML's legislative committee for 2012. Section C. Finance - Retirement Benefits Government Reform addresses the Virginia Municipal League's stand on allowing VRS participating localities to require Plan 1 members to contribute to their VRS pension.
6. National Trends
   • Article, The Economist, April 7, 2011: "Pensions 70 or bust! Current plans to raise the retirement age are not bold enough"
   • Report, Census Bureau 2009 Annual Survey of Public Employee Retirement Systems, April 27, 2011, "Census Bureau Reports State Retirement System Assets Fall $641 Billion in 2009"

B. Plan Features

1. Participants
   • Plan Membership
   • Valuation 2009 Fire and Police Pension Plan (excerpted pages)
   • Valuation 2010 Supplemental Retirement Plan (excerpted pages)
2. Benefits
   • Benefits Overview of City retirement benefits with examples
   • Valuation 2009 Fire and Police Pension Plan (excerpted pages)
   • Valuation 2010 Supplemental Retirement Plan (excerpted pages)
   • Summary of Activity as of December 31, 2010 for the Fire and Police Pension Plan
3. Funding sources
   • Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010 (excerpted pages)
   • Timeline: Valuation, Budgeting, Contributions Changes demonstrates the contribution rate setting process
   • Valuation 2010 Virginia Retirement System (excerpted page) projects future employer contribution rates
   • Valuation 2009 Fire and Police Pension Plan (excerpted pages)
   • Valuation 2010 Supplemental Retirement Plan (excerpted pages)
   • Summary of Activity as of December 31, 2010 for the Fire and Police Pension Plan
4. Financial status as of June 30, 2010
   • Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010 (excerpted pages)
   • Valuation 2010 Virginia Retirement System (excerpted page) projects future employer contribution rates
   • Valuation 2009 Fire and Police Pension Plan (excerpted pages)
   • Valuation 2010 Supplemental Retirement Plan (excerpted pages)
   • Summary of Activity as of December 31, 2010 for the Fire and Police Pension Plan
5. Financial status of pension funds under different future scenarios
6. Investments - Asset Allocation/Investment Strategy
7. Historical perspective
   • History of Pension Changes - City and national
   • City Resolution No. 868 adopted June 8, 1982 - City makes the 5% VRS member contributions for covered employees

C. Related Web Sites and Information

• Pensions and Investments online newsletter, published weekly for Pension and Investment professionals, is a good source for current information on the pension world. You will find links to information on defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans, and public pension plans under the head Tag Cloud in the center of the page.
• International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP or the International Foundation) is a nonprofit organization providing information on employee benefits, compensation, and financial literacy for public and private employers.
• National Conference on Public Employees Retirement Systems (NCPERS) is a nonprofit public pension advocate and trade association working to protect the pension of public employees. They focus on advocacy, research, and education for the benefit of public section pension trustees, administrators, and government officials.
• The National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA) is a nonprofit association whose members oversee retirement systems that provide pension and other benefits to most state and local government employees.
• Freedom of Information
  • Local Government Officials' Guide to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Roger C. Wiley, 2007, Local Government Attorneys of Virginia, Inc.,c/o Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, University of Virginia

  • The Freedom of Information Act and Local Government Officials, Prepared by the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council in cooperation with the Virginia Association of Counties and Virginia Municipal League

Mayor William D. Euille appointed the following members to the Group.