[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of Newtown as indicated in
article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted by the Legislative Council 11-1-2017[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance superseded former Art. I, Other
Post-Employment Benefits Trust Fund, adopted 10-7-2009 (Ord. No. 92).
A.
This article is enacted pursuant to § 2-255 of the Newtown
Town Charter and § 7-450b of the Connecticut General Statutes,
and shall be known and may be cited as the "Pension and Other Post-Employment
Benefits (OPEB) Ordinance."
B.
The purpose of the pension, retirement or other post-employment health
and life benefit systems of the Town of Newtown are to provide retirement
benefits to eligible Town of Newtown officers and employees and their
beneficiaries.
C.
As used in this article, the term "Pension and OPEB Committee" shall
be defined as the Pension Committee for purposes of Section 2-255
of the Newtown Town Charter, and the Other Post-Employment Benefits
Committee for the Other Post-Employment Benefits Trust created and
established by the Town of Newtown in Ordinance No. 92, adopted by
the Legislative Council on or about October 7, 2009 (the "OPEB Trust"),
which shall continue to exist and, except as specifically provided
for herein, shall not be affected by the enactment of this article.
D.
The provisions of this article are declared to be severable and the
invalidity of any portion thereof shall not affect the validity of
the remainder.
A.
The Pension and OPEB Committee shall serve in an advisory role with
respect to the administration and investment oversight of assets of
the pension, retirement or other post-employment health and life benefit
systems of the Town of Newtown. The members of the Pension and OPEB
Committee shall receive no compensation for serving.
B.
The Pension and OPEB Committee shall provide guidance and insight
into the provisions of the retirement benefits system plans (the "plans")
and monitor and report to the trustees (the "trustees") of trusts
established to hold and invest the assets of such retirement benefits
systems (the "trusts").
C.
The Pension and OPEB Committee shall perform the duties set forth
in the Pension and OPEB Trust agreements, as amended from time to
time, relating to the management of the assets held in the trusts.
D.
The chairman of the Pension and OPEB Committee and the Town's
Personnel Administrator, as co-trustees of the OPEB Trust, shall perform
the duties set forth in the OPEB Trust agreement, as amended from
time to time, relating to the care and custody of all funds held in
the OPEB Trust, and shall have the power, with the approval of the
Pension and OPEB Committee, to invest such funds in securities legal
for investment for such trust fund.
A.
The members of the Pension and OPEB Committee shall have the following
responsibilities:
(1)
Serve as advisors to the trustees with respect to the selection of
appropriate investment vehicles in line with the relevant investment
policy statement for each plan.
(2)
Evaluate investment vehicles and their risk parameters, monitor investment
returns, make recommendations to the trustees regarding expanding
or decreasing investment selections as appropriate to protect the
assets of the plans and periodically report the investment performance
of plans and trusts established to hold and invest the assets of the
Town of Newtown retirement benefits systems.
(3)
Ensure that the relevant investment policy statement for each plan,
along with other policy guidance and directives outlined by the trustees,
are properly implemented.
(4)
Review quarterly reports of the plans and trusts established to hold
and invest the assets of the Town of Newtown retirement benefits systems
with respect to the status and value of each plan's assets and
report any exceptions or major variances to the Board of Selectmen.
(5)
Monitor the performance of each plan's investments quarterly.
Meet with the investment consultant of each plan to review and discuss
plan performance and report to the Board of Selectmen.
(6)
Discharge their duties with the care, skill, prudence and diligence
appropriate to the circumstances then prevailing and to comply with
the ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Securities Act) fiduciary standards
and the prudent investor rule as set forth in C.G.S. §§ 45a-541
to 45a-5411, inclusive.
(7)
Meet with the Board of Selectmen, not less than annually, to review
the status of the plans' investments, performance, investment
policy statement, actuarial assumptions, funding policy and any changes
that the Pension and OPEB Committee, in consultation with the plans'
actuary, investment consultant and/or trustees, might feel appropriate
to suggest.
(8)
Establish procedures, with approval of the trustees, for coordinating
a search for actuary(ies), custodians(s), investment manager(s), consultant(s),
and other service providers as necessary and advisable in consultation
with the plans' investment consultant and the trustees.
B.
Composition of Pension and OPEB Committee members; appointment; terms.
(1)
There shall be six volunteer members of the Pension OPEB Committee
appointed by the First Selectman, with the approval of the Board of
Selectman, with a preference for those volunteers who have relevant
expertise and backgrounds in one or more of the following disciplines:
finance, health care, employee benefits, human resources, insurance,
legal, investments and trustee/custodian.
(2)
A seventh volunteer member of the Pension and OPEB Committee shall be a representative of the Newtown Police Union, Local #3152, Council #15, AFSCME, AFL-CIO (the "Police Union"). The member representative of the Police Union shall be appointed by the First Selectman, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, after receiving recommendations from the Police Union. The Pension Committee, including the member representative of the Police Union, shall constitute the "Police Pension Committee" under the collective bargaining agreement between the Town of Newtown and the Police Union, as the same may be amended from time to time. If at any time such agreement does not require a member representative of the Police Union on the Pension and OPEB Committee, then the preceding provisions of this Subsection B(2) shall have no legal effect and the seventh member of the Pension and OPEB Committee shall be appointed pursuant to the preceding Subsection B(1).
(3)
Members of the Pension and OPEB Committee shall be appointed to serve
a two-year term. Upon the enactment of this article, the First Selectman,
with the approval of the Board of Selectman, shall appoint three members
for a one-year term in January 2018, and three members for a two-year
term. The member representative of the Police Union shall serve a
two-year term.
C.
Pension and OPEB Committee Chairman, Vice Chairman and Clerk.
(1)
The Pension and OPEB Committee shall elect a Chairman and a Vice
Chairman to serve for a term of one year.
(2)
The Chairman shall preside at meetings and public hearings. The Vice
Chairman shall preside at all meetings and public hearings in the
Chairman's absence.
(3)
The Pension and OPEB Committee shall utilize a clerk whose responsibility
is the taking of minutes at all meetings, type and file minutes with
the Town Clerk, distribute to Pension and OPEB Committee members and
perform all other clerical or recording services for the Pension and
OPEB Committee.
D.
Pension and OPEB Committee meetings.
[Adopted by the Legislative Council 1-19-2011]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Self-Funded
Health Insurance Fund and Committee Ordinance."
The Town of Newtown, hereinafter referred to as the "Town,"
by this article, authorizes the creation of the Self-Funded Health
Insurance Fund, hereinafter referred to as the "fund," whose purpose
is described below; and also authorizes the creation of the Self-Funded
Health Insurance Fund Committee, hereinafter referred to as the "Committee,"
whose responsibilities are described below.
The purpose of this fund is to hold funds to pay claims made
by municipal and school district employees of the Town as required
in fulfilling employee health insurance obligations of the Town of
Newtown, and other such liabilities relating to those claims and obligations.
For the purposes of this article, it is the intention of the
Town of Newtown to have the Board of Selectman and Board of Education
work collaboratively as "partner" or "partners" in connection with
the fund and the benefits paid by the fund pursuant to the above section.
The Committee shall:
A.
Serve the interests of the municipal and education departments of
the Town.
B.
Recommend the level of annual or other contributions to the fund
by the Town and apportionment to each of the partners, in consultation
with the insurance consultant in his work with the insurance provider.
C.
Serve as an information bridge between the Town insurance consultant
and the partners.
D.
Work with the Town and the insurance consultant as needed in any
matters pertaining to health benefits.
A.
There shall be three volunteer members of the Committee, with a preference
for those who have relevant expertise and knowledge in finance, health
care, and/or insurance.
B.
Members shall be appointed by the First Selectman with the approval
of the Board of Selectmen to serve three-year terms. Initially, the
First Selectman shall appoint one member for a one-year term, one
member for a two-year term and one member for a three-year term.
C.
There shall be two alternates, each appointed for a two-year term.
The term of the alternates shall run from January 1 of the even year
through December 31 of the ensuing year. If a regular member of the
Committee is absent, the Chairman of the Committee shall designate
an alternate to act in the absent member's place, choosing the
alternates in rotation so that they shall act as nearly equal a number
of times as possible.
A.
The Committee shall elect a Chairman, to serve for a term of one
year. The Chairman shall preside at meetings and public hearings.
B.
The Committee shall utilize a Clerk, whose responsibility is the
taking of minutes at all meetings, typing and filing the same, and
performing all other clerical or recording services for the Committee.
A.
The fund exists only to pay health care claims and related expenses
of the plan and shall not be used for any other purpose.
B.
The fund will build a reasonable (not to exceed three months of payments)
balance to ensure that claims of covered employees can be paid during
a high claim year.
C.
Investments of the fund balance will be made in accordance with the
Town's investment policy.
D.
In the event the fund is terminated, any balance shall revert back
to the General Fund of the Town (after all self-insurance claims have
been paid) and shall be used to defray the partners' future health
insurance costs and obligations.
E.
The fund shall continue year to year without lapsing unless terminated
by the Town.
