(A) There shall be and is hereby created a Firefighters' Retirement Committee to supervise the general operation of the retirement system established pursuant to Neb. RS 16-1020 to 16-1042. The Firefighters' Retirement Committee shall consist of six members. Members of the committee shall serve for terms of four years. Vacancies shall be filled for the remainder of the term by a person with the same representation as his or her predecessor. Four members shall be selected by the active paid firefighters excluding firefighters identified in Neb. RS 16-1039. Election of firefighters shall be by secret ballot. Results of the election shall be verified by the City Clerk. Two members shall be designated by the City Council. The City Manager and Director of Finance of the city shall be and hereby are appointed to the Firefighters' Retirement Committee and shall be deemed to be reappointed each four-year term hereafter unless otherwise specified by the City Council. Members who are not participants in the retirement system shall have a general knowledge of retirement plans. Members of the Firefighters' Retirement Committee shall, subject to approval by the City Council, be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in carrying out their duties.
(B) The funds in the Firefighters' Retirement System Fund shall be invested by the Firefighters' Retirement Committee. The city, subject to the approval of the Retirement Committee, shall contract with a funding agent or agents to hold or invest the assets of the retirement system and to provide for the benefits provided by Neb. RS 16-1020 to 16-1042. The Firefighters' Retirement Committee, subject to the approval of the city, may also select an investment manager. The city, subject to approval of the Retirement Committee, may contract with investment managers registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to invest, reinvest, and otherwise manage the portion of the assets of the retirement system as may be assigned by the city or Firefighters' Retirement Committee. All funds of the retirement system established pursuant to Neb. RS 16-1020 to 16-1042 shall be invested pursuant to the policies established by the state Investment Council. The Firefighters' Retirement Committee shall establish an investment plan which allows each member of the retirement system to allocate all contributions to his or her employee account and, if he or she commenced his or her employment after January 1, 1984, his or her employer account to the various investment options or combinations of investment options described in the plan. Each firefighter shall have the option of investing his or her employee account and, if he or she commenced his or her employment after January 1, 1984, his or her employer account in any proportion, including full allocation, in any investment option offered by the plan. Upon the direction of the city, firefighters employed on January 1, 1984, may have the option to allocate their employer account to various investment options or combinations of investment options in any proportion, including full allocation, in any investment option offered by the plan. Each firefighter shall be given a summary of the investment plan and a detailed current description of each investment option prior to making or revising his or her allocation.
(C) It shall be the duty of the Firefighters' Retirement Committee to:
(1) Elect a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson, and other officers as the Committee deems appropriate;
(2) Hold regular quarterly meetings and special meetings upon the call of the Chairperson;
(3) Conduct meetings pursuant to the Open Meetings Act;
(4) Provide each employee a summary of plan eligibility requirements and benefit provisions and investment options available to the employees;
(5) Provide, within 30 days after a request is made by a participant, a statement describing the amount of benefits the participant is eligible to receive;
(6) Make available for review an annual report of the system's operations describing both:
(a) The amount of contributions to the system from both employee and employer sources; and
(b) An identification of the total assets of the retirement system.
(7) Beginning December 31, 1998, and each December 31 thereafter, the Chairperson of the Retirement Committee shall file with the Public Employees Retirement Board an annual report on each retirement plan established pursuant to § 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code and administered by a retirement system established pursuant to Neb. RS 16-1020 to 16-1042 and shall submit copies of the report to the members of the state Retirement Systems Committee of the legislature. The annual report shall be in a form prescribed by the Public Employees' Retirement Board and shall contain the following information for each retirement plan:
(a) The number of persons participating in the retirement plan;
(b) The contribution rates of participants in the plan;
(c) Plan assets and liabilities;
(d) The names and positions of persons administering the plan;
(e) The names and positions of persons investing plan assets;
(f) The form and nature of investments;
(g) For each defined contribution plan, a full description of investment policies and options available to plan participants; and
(h) For each defined benefit plan, the levels of benefits of participants in the plan, the number of members who are eligible for a benefit, and the total present value of the members' benefits, as well as the funding sources which will pay for the benefits. If a plan contains no current active participants, the Chairperson may file in place of the report a statement with the Public Employees Retirement Board indicating the number of retirees still drawing benefits, and the sources and amount of funding for the benefits.
(8) Beginning December 31, 1998, and every four years thereafter, if the retirement plan is a defined benefit plan, the Retirement Committee shall cause to be prepared a quadrennial report and the Chairperson shall file the same with the Public Employees Retirement Board and submit to the members of the state Retirement Systems Committee of the legislature a copy of the report. The report shall consist of a full actuarial analysis of each retirement plan administered by a system established pursuant to Neb. RS 16-1020 to 161042. The analysis shall be prepared by an independent private organization or public entity employing actuaries who are members in good standing of the American Academy of Actuaries, and which organization or entity has demonstrated expertise to perform this type of analysis and is unrelated to any organization offering investment advice or which provides investment management services to the retirement plan.
(Ord. 2005-2738, passed 7-7-2005)