Laserfiche WebLink
CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK <br /> regionally. I also would like to point out, we just developed what was called a Heart Team. The <br /> Indiana Department of Homeland Security came and provided us with some training on a thing <br /> that they call Operation Force Multiplier last year. Where,they wanted local public safety agencies <br /> to couple up with the National Guard, to be able to take resources from both and create teams that <br /> would have exponentially more capacity. I've got to give Chris Baker all the credit in the world <br /> because he took this and developed it with a gentleman by the name of Josh Weideman, who is <br /> Chief Warrant Officer at the Gary National Guard Medical Unit. <br /> He continued, They developed what's called a Helicopter Aquatics Rescue Team. We now have <br /> one (1) of only eleven (11) Heart Teams that are deployable in the entire country. They just went <br /> to an academy in South Carolina, and the folks on our department. They're a part of this team, and <br /> the folks at the National guard are all going to be recognized at the Colts versus Bears game on <br /> this upcoming Sunday. I can assure the Council, you will all hear about these individuals being <br /> deployed at times of need in national emergencies coming up. That is just another highlight of <br /> amazing things that are being done at our department. I'm going to take one(1) step back here, I'm <br /> going to allow Captain Gerard Ellis to step forward, who is the departmental pension secretary, <br /> and have him go ahead and present this. <br /> Gerard Ellis, 1222 South Michigan Street stated, Good evening. A little overview of the <br /> firefighter's pension, if you think of one (1) fund, there's kind of three (3) tiers to it. The 1977 <br /> Fund of which all of the firefighters here in the room except Chief Rodriguez, we're all members <br /> of that fund, which is a state liability. The chart you have in front of you, the three(3) bars to the <br /> left are what we call the 1937 Fund which is the old plan. It includes the firefighters and their <br /> widows or dependents. <br /> He continued, The two (2) bars to your right are what we refer to as the 1977 convertees. Those <br /> members converted a few decades ago into the new fund but they're still a liability. Their pension <br /> checks come from the City. There, I just put the number when I started back in 2014 in this <br /> position. I had about one-hundred and ninety-one (191) pensioners, that includes widows, <br /> dependents, and retirees. Currently, I'm down to about one-hundred and forty-one (141). The <br /> number is going down, as people age, death occurs. The '37 Fund, there on the left, I currently <br /> have forty-one(41)firefighters,technically about forty-seven(47). You can see their average age <br /> is about seventy-eight(78), and they've spent at least about twenty-eight(28) years in retirement. <br /> The widows there,the middle column there,that's the last group of the old fund, and most of those <br /> retired back in 2007. They have, obviously, less years in retirement. The convertees there, in the <br /> pink, their average age is still up there in the early seventies (70's), and they've spent about <br /> approximately thirteen (13) years in retirement. Most of those have left past the 2007 timeframe <br /> back then. When it comes to the pension, the state of Indiana reimburses the City and it's kind of <br /> a pass-through. What we pay out this year,the state reimburses the City for those payroll expenses <br /> next year. Dependent on how many deaths, how many death benefits are paid out, it can fluctuate. <br /> Some years we're off a little bit and there's a little bit of gap there where the City has to cover that <br /> gap and pay a little. <br /> If a retiree passes away and there's no widow to add to the pension, then that kind of helps in the <br /> following year because all that's reimbursed and we're not adding a widow to the pension. Other <br /> than that, are there any questions to the chart there? <br /> EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION I INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT <br /> 455 County-City Building227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601574.235.9221 f574.235.9173 I I D574.235.5567 www.southbendin.goy <br /> Y tYp <br /> 5 <br />