Honorable Dan Flynn, Chair, House Committee on Pensions
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1756 by Rodriguez, Eddie (Relating to the board of trustees of and distribution of certain benefits by a retirement system for firefighters in certain municipalities.), As Introduced
House Bill 1756 would make multiple administrative changes to Article 6243e.1, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes, applicable to the Austin Fire Fighters Relief and Retirement Fund (AFRRF), as outlined below. The bill would take effect September 1, 2015.
• Allow the board of trustees to appoint a sole nominated candidate to the board without holding an election and adopt procedures for such appointments.
• Allow the board of trustees to adopt rules to establish procedures and requirements governing a member's designation of the beneficiary.
• Allow the board of trustees to adopt rules to modify the availability of certain distributions from members' Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) accounts.
• Clarify certain provisions relating to the payments from a DROP account at the member's death and the determination period for the collective adjustment amount for an annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).
According to the information provided by AFRRF, the adoption of this bill would have no impact on the assumptions used in determining the funding requirements to the program and would not result in a change in the valuation results.
The proposed bill, if enacted, would not have an actuarial effect on the retirement fund because it does not propose to change the benefit structure, funding or obligations of the retirement system.