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Home My WebLink About22531 1 ORDINANCE NO.22,531 2 AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND LITTLE ROCK,ARK., ORDINANCE NO. 3 21,639 (OCTOBER 16, 2018), AS AMENDED BY LITTLE ROCK, ARK., 4 ORDINANCE NO. 22,177 (OCTOBER 3, 2022), TO ALLOW FOR A TWO 5 HUNDRED DOLLAR ($200.00) PER MONTH INCREASE IN BENEFITS 6 TO MEMBERS OF THE LITTLE ROCK FIREMEN'S RELIEF AND 7 PENSION FUND, NOW ADMINISTERED BY THE ARKANSAS LOCAL 8 POLICE AND FIRE RETIREMENT SYSTEM (LOPFI); TO AMEND THE 9 AMORTIZATION PERIOD; TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY;AND FOR 10 OTHER PURPOSES. 11 12 WHEREAS,in Little Rock,Ark.,Ordinance No.21,639(October 16,2018),the Board of Directors of 13 the City of Little Rock, upon request by the Board of Trustees of the Little Rock Firemen's Relief and 14 Pension Fund,transferred the administration of the Little Rock Firemen's Relief and Pension Fund to the 15 Arkansas Local Police and Fire Retirement System("LOPFI");and, 16 WHEREAS, it was determined to continue this program in 2020 with funds provided by the City of 17 Little Rock,Arkansas,and again to use CALS for the programming,coordination,meeting and application 18 for such programs;and, 19 WHEREAS, Section 3 of Ordinance No. 21,639, made an initial monthly increase in benefits to all 20 retiree and survivor accounts beginning January 1,2019; and, 21 WHEREAS, Section 4 of Ordinance No. 21,639 committed the Board of Directors to review and 22 consider a benefit increase on a reoccurring three (3)-year basis following the consolidation until the 23 conclusion of the closed twenty-five(25)-year amortization period;and, 24 WHEREAS,Ordinance No.22,177(October 3,2022)allowed for an additional two hundred and fifty 25 dollar($250.00)per month increase in benefits to all retiree and survivor accounts,except alternate payees 26 under a Qualified Domestic Relations Order,beginning January 1,2022;and, 27 WHEREAS,while Arkansas State Statute requires that benefit increases follow Arkansas State Law, 28 this is no longer completely possible because the Board of Trustees of the Local Firemen's Relief and 29 Pension Fund was disbanded,so based upon the representations of LOPFI and Section 5 of Ordinance No. 30 21,639,substitutes an ordinance from the Board of Directors of the City of Little Rock to authorize such an 31 increase;and, 32 WHEREAS, an Actuarial Study has been received from LOPFI's Actuaries, Gabriel, Roeder, Smith 33 &Company,to assure that this increase in benefits can be amortized over a twenty(20)-year period. [Page 1 of 3] 1 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE 2 CITY OF LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS: 3 Section 1. Section 2 of Ordinance No.21,639, is hereby amended to read as follows: 4 Section 2.The City Manager is hereby authorized to enter into an irrevocable agreement,using a twenty 5 (20)-year amortization schedule, with LOPFI to administer the Little Rock Firemen's Relief and Pension 6 Fund as stated in Section 1 hereof. 7 Section 2. Section 3 of Ordinance No.21,639, is hereby amended to read as follows: 8 Section 3.The agreement with LOPFI shall include: 9 (a) An initial Two Hundred Fifty Dollar($250.00)per month benefit increase to all 10 retiree and survivor accounts, except alternate payees under a Qualified Domestic 11 Relations Order,beginning January 1,2019;and, 12 (b) An additional Two Hundred Fifty Dollar($250.00)per month benefit increase to 13 all retiree and survivor accounts, except alternate payees under a Qualified Domestic 14 Relations Order,beginning January 1,2022;and, 15 (c)An additional two hundred dollar($200.00)per month benefit increase to all retiree 16 and survivor accounts, except alternate payees under a Qualified Domestic Relations 17 Order,beginning January 1,2025. 18 Section 3. Section 4 of Ordinance No.21,639,is hereby amended to read as follows: 19 Section 4. The Board of Directors commits to review and consider a benefit increase on a 20 reoccurring three (3)-year basis following the consolidation until the conclusion of the closed 21 twenty(20)-year amortization period. Any actuarial valuations conducted as a part of the review 22 and reconsideration shall be made by an independent actuary as required by Arkansas State Law. 23 Section 5.Effective Date. Upon the passage of this ordinance,and the emergency clause,the effective 24 date of this benefit increase shall be January 1,2025. 25 Section 6. Severability. In the event any title, section, paragraph, item, sentence, clause, phrase, or 26 word of this resolution is declared or adjudged to be invalid or unconstitutional, such declaration or 27 adjudication shall not affect the remaining portions of this resolution,which shall remain in full force and 28 effect as if the portion so declared or adjudged invalid or unconstitutional were not originally a part of the 29 resolution. 30 Section 7.Repealer. All laws, ordinances, resolutions, or parts of the same, that are inconsistent 31 with the provisions of this ordinance, are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency including, 32 but not limited to, Little Rock,Ark.,Ordinance No. 22,019(August 3,.2021). 33 Section 7. Emergency Clause. The ability to adequately provide retirement benefits for retired Little 34 Rock Firefighters and eligible survivors who, among other things, are not a part of the Federal Social [Page 2 of 3] 1 Security System for their work as Firefighters is essential to the public health safety and welfare and this 2 fact is exacerbated when in accordance with LOPFI Board Policy, this action must be completed by 3 October 20, 2022, before a benefit increase can occur;further, the necessity to clay* the period of 4 amortization as twenty-two (22) years, instead of twenty-five (25) years,for the irrevocable agreement 5 between the City and LOPFI is also essential; an emergency is declared to exist and this ordinance shall 6 be in full force and effect from and after the date of its passage. 7 PASSED: October 2,2024 8 ATTEST: APPROVED: 9 , 10 Mlik\A � 11 Allison Segars,A'Ti1717 ty Clerk ank Scott,Jr.,Mayor 12 APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM: 13 •i / 14 �rk,%' 15 Lynett• /'erez,Chief P ' ��,4J City Attorney 16 // 17 // 18 // 19 // 20 // 21 // 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 // 26 // 27 // 28 // 29 // 30 // [Page 3 of 3]