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A regular meeting of the Town of Hingham Contributory Retirement Board was held in the Town Hall on Tuesday, June 17, 2008. Ted C. Alexiades, Thomas P. Hall Eileen A. McCracken, Jean M. Montgomery and Henry F.G. Wey, III were present. The meeting was called to order by Ted C. Alexiades at 10:10 A.M.
Michael Mullin (candidate for election) was asked to attend the board meeting in order to discuss with the board members the ongoing election procedures. Eileen A. McCracken recused herself from the discussion.
Dialogue included whether or not return envelopes submitted without a name or return address should be counted because they could not be verified as being submitted by a member or a retiree. It was agreed that members/retirees would be given another chance to vote if they were unsure whether or not they had submitted a return envelope with or without a name and return address or if they never received the original ballot through the mail due to an erroneous mailing address. If a member/retiree for whatever reason happened to vote twice, both votes would be disqualified.
Thomas P. Hall would assist Nancy Hutt in checking off the return envelopes in the ballot box, separating the ballot envelope from the return envelope and re-depositing the ballot envelope only back into the ballot box directly following the board meeting. Return envelopes containing no name or return address were to be removed from the ballot box. Election will take place on Tuesday, June 24th beginning at 5:00 P.M.
A motion was made by Henry F.G. Wey, III and seconded by Jean M. Montgomery to nominate Thomas P. Hall as the 2nd election officer.
AYE 4-0. It was unanimously voted.
Following the discussion, Eileen A. McCracken returned to her seat in order to continue with the board meeting agenda.
A motion was made by Harry F.G. Wey, III and seconded by Eileen A. McCracken to approve the minutes of the May 20, 2008 meeting.
AYE 5-0. It was unanimously voted.
A motion was made by Eileen A. McCracken and seconded by Jean M. Montgomery to approve the following retirement allowances and expenses:
Retirement Allowances (June 2008)
Pension $ 374,962.02
Annuity $ 60,082.56
Chapter 157 Veteran Benefit $ 89.01
Cost of Living $ 0.00
Dependent Allowance $ 621.32
Total Warrant #PR0608 $ 435,754.91
Retirement Expenses (June 2008)
Salaries $ 4,986.52
Office Expenses $ 2,958.45
3(8)(c) Payment(s) $ 0.00
Refund(s)/Transfer(s) $ 9,107.63
Accidental Death Refund(s) $ 0.00
Option B Refund(s) $ 0.00
Total Warrant #AP0608 $ 17,052.60
AYE 5-0. It was unanimously voted.
There were no Application(s) for Membership.
A motion was made by Thomas P. Hall III and seconded by Henry F.G. Wey, III to accept the following Application(s) for Retirement:
John V. Ketchum Fire Dept. (Firefighter) June 16, 2008 Option C
AYE 5-0. It was unanimously voted.
A motion was made by Thomas P. Hall and seconded by Eileen A. McCracken III to accept the following Application(s) for Withdrawal and/or Transfer of Deductions:
Kevin D. Long DPW (Equipment Operator) Refund $ 7,886.12
Karen L. Clay School Dept. (Paraprofessional) Refund $ 1,221.51
AYE 5-0. It was unanimously voted.
There was no Application(s) for Buybacks/Make-ups.
A motion was made by Eileen A. McCracken and seconded by Thomas P. Hall to adjourn the regular business meeting at 10:45 AM in order to convene in executive session. Board will reconvene their regular business meeting following the executive session.
By roll call vote:
Ted Alexiades AYE
Eileen McCracken AYE
Thomas P. Hall AYE
Jean M. Montgomery AYE
Henry F.G. Wey, III AYE
A motion was made by Thomas P. Hall and seconded by Jean M. Montgomery to reconvene the regular business meeting at 11:00 AM.
By roll call vote:
Ted Alexiades AYE
Eileen McCracken AYE
Thomas P. Hall AYE
Jean M. Montgomery AYE
Henry F.G. Wey, III AYE
The Cash Flow Report through June 30, 2008 was discussed. Board will request a PRIT Fund transfer in the amount of $250,000 to cover ongoing retirement board expenses.
May 2008 Retirement Board Money Market account ending balance in the amount of $188,335.93 reconciles to May 2008 Trial Balance.
The Monthly Account Statement and PRIT Fund Performance for the period ending April 2008 was unavailable to the board for review at this time.
The Board received notification from PERAC that the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued its decision dealing with the status of personal use of employer-owned motor vehicles as regular compensation (Pelonzi vs. Retirement Board of Beverly). The Court declared that the value of personal use of Mr. Pelonzi’s automobile is not includable as part of his “regular compensation” under G.L. c. 32, §1.
PERAC Memo#20/2008 dated May 28, 2008 set forth procedures for retirement systems that elect to have audits performed by Certified Public Accounting firms in lieu or in conjunction with the tri-annual audits performed by PERAC as authorized under Chapter 32, §21(1)(a). The memo states that the selection of a vendor must be made through a procurement process and that the board must issue an RFP and advertise to obtain services to perform a financial and managerial audit of the system. Chairman Alexiades asked that a letter be addressed to legal counsel asking if the board is not exempt from this under M.G.L. Chapter 30B.
Mass Retirees mailed the board a copy of the memorandum they sent to the members of the House and Senate concerning Section 15, Local COLA Base Increase to $16,000. Section 15 gives local government retirees the same opportunity that has been voted by both branches of the Legislature on behalf of state and teacher retirees. The Mass Municipal Association (MMA) opposes the COLA adjustment provision stating it would be too costly. The board will consider the $16,000 COLA after the State votes to approve it.
A motion was made by Henry F.G. Wey, III and seconded by Thomas P. Hall to adjourn the meeting at 10.30 A.M.
AYE 5-0. It was unanimously voted.
The next regular Retirement Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 10:00 A.M.