Woodstock Firefighter’s Pension
Board of Trustees
A regular meeting of the Woodstock Firefighter’s Pension Board of Trustees was called to order on Tuesday, February
18, 2014 at 9:05 a.m. at Fire Station #2, 1325 Dean Street, Woodstock, Illinois.
Board members present were President Mike Hill, Treasurer John Kunzie, Trustees Bob Kristensen and Lloyd Shaw. A
quorum was present.
Absent: Secretary Matt Hedges, Trustee Dick Menzel.
Also present were: Kevin Noonan of American Community Wealth Management, Jim Ritchie of Lauterbach & Amen.
Public Comment FF/PM Scott Wessel of WFRD addressed the Board to bring attention to a payroll error that was made
on a recent paycheck. Scott was paid more overtime than he should have been, and the error was corrected by reducing his
pay amount on his next regular paycheck. Scott’s concern is that his pension contribution was not properly made due to
the manner in which the error was corrected. The Board thanked Scott for the information and said that they would follow
up with WFRD administration to correct the error, and determine if the same error had occurred for other members.
Minutes
The board reviewed the minutes from the regular meeting December 10, 2013.
A motion to approve the December 10, 2013 meeting minutes was made by Trustee Shaw, seconded by Trustee
Kristensen. Motion passed unanimously.
A quorum of members that were present at the January 14, 2014 special meeting was not present, and therefore the
minutes could not be approved. The issue was tabled until the next regular meeting of the Pension Board.
Communication
President Hill presented correspondence received; Announcement of the IPFA spring seminar is available for review upon
request.
Bill Report
President Hill presented the bill report:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Lauterbach and Amen
Zanck, Coen and Wright
Trustee Matt Hedges
TOTAL
$425
$675
$9.18
$1,109.18
Professional Services
Professional Services
Reimbursement for Fed efile fee
Motion to pay all bills as presented was made by Trustee Kristensen and seconded by Trustee Shaw. Motion
Passed.
Roll Call: Aye- Hill, Kristensen, Shaw Nay- NA Abstain- NA
Investment Advisor’s Report
The floor was turned over to Kevin Noonan of American Community Wealth Management (ACWM).
Mr. Noonan gave a brief summary of account activity. He confirmed that $200,000 was moved to the Capstone account
on February 4, 2014. He also said that he would confirm that our CDARS purchases had been made as requested at the
January 14, 2014 special meeting.
Lauterbach and Amen Report
Jim Ritchie gave a report of the current state of the Pension Fund. Trustee Kristensen had a question about whether Jim
felt that our investment management fees were comparable to those of other organizations that he represents. Jim said that
his opinion was that our fees were a little on the high side but not out of line. He did recommend that if we had concerns
about our fees that we should request a detailed fee schedule from our investment managers.
Trustee Shaw asked what the effect of our change in fund assets would have on our unfunded liability. Jim replied that
because our actual contributions were lower than our recommended contributions and our actual rate of return on
investment was less than our assumed rate of return that our unfunded liability would most likely increase, but he could
not give exact figures without an actuarial analysis.
Jim mentioned that our IDOI annual statement contained some incorrect values for employee contributions (the
contributions for 2011 and 2012 were exactly the same on their respective statements, suggesting that the 2011 values
were never updated for the 2012 report). Jim recommended that we take no action at this time, but instead take care to
ensure that our 2013 numbers are correct.
Finally Jim mentioned that he had experienced some difficulty in matching records of the District’s contributions to the
Pension Fund with the Pension Fund’s records of receipts. He felt that an improvement in labeling the source and amount
of Pension Fund contributions could help to alleviate the problem.
Open Issues
A discussion on professional services for the pension fund was held. The Board Members agreed that we would like to
request a detailed fee schedule from our investment managers, including fees for both the LAMP and Capstone accounts.
Discussion was held regarding the likelihood of receipt of a petition for an on-duty death benefit in the near future, and
whether we felt that our attorney was prepared to represent us if the issue should arise, or if we should seek an attorney
who was more experienced with processing pension benefit claims. The consensus was to remain with our current
attorney, and to consider looking for specialized help only if the need should arise.
New Business
None
Discussion
None
Adjournment There being no further business before the Board, Motion to adjourn by Trustee Kristensen, second by
Trustee Shaw; Meeting adjourned at 10:55 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
_______________________
Michael Hill, President
Woodstock Firefighter’s Pension Fund
February 18, 2014