2014 Meeting Minutes and Financial Reports

Alabama Firefighters’ Annuity & Benefit Fund

Meeting Minutes

Alabama Fire College 1:30 pm

03/05/2014

Members Present:

Vice Chairman Reid Vaughan

Robert Ezekiel (“Zeke”)

Billy Doss

Charlie Dixon

*A Quorum was present at this meeting to conduct business.

Secretary’s Report, Approval of Meeting Minutes, and Financial Report

Meeting minutes from 12/11/2013 presented by the Secretary

Motion to accept Minutes by Billy Doss

Second made by Charlie Dixon

Motion passed unanimously

Financial Report for December 1, 2013 to February 28, 2014 presented by the Secretary

Motion to accept Financial Report made by Zeke

Second made by Charlie Dixon

Motion passed unanimously

Secretary reported that there was still money coming in from the counties, but it had dropped off dramatically. One individual is interested in signing up to be member, however, some of the paperwork was not sent in. The individual will not become a member until this is resolved.

Reid Vaughan reported that no money has been moved from the Regions account to the RSA account. He contacted Regions about moving the money on 3/4/14.

Old Business

Discussion about the RSA transfer and how to move the money from Regions to RSA. Reid will be following up on this.

The Secretary reported on AFABF at the Chief’s Conference. An individual from the Porch Band of Creek Indians Fire Department was very interested in the AFABF. He wanted to know about Payroll deduct for that department. AFABF Brochures were placed on all attendees chairs at the conference.

Reid reported that Pennington VFD has 15 members. The department may sign up for membership of their members in August or October. The Budget will be presented in August. This may be a good time to go to Pennington VFD to talk to about AFABF. Charlie Dixon and Reid Vaughan will try to go at this time to market AFABF.

Reid reported on the League of Municipalities. Reid is still checking on an ad in the magazine. Discussion about trying to have a table the League of Municipalities conference coming up.

Charlie Dixon wants Reid to come to Thomasville and talk to the Mayor about possibly signing up the department members for membership paid by Thomasville.

Legislation is dead right now. Discussion about changing the bill and letting AAVFD write it up so they like it in the beginning.

Executive Director position will remain vacant until AFABF is more financially stable.

New Business

Legislation- Need to get Steve and Mike Green together at a meeting at the Joint Fire Council to talk about getting the premium tax and possibly ¼ million dollars per year instead of a higher amount. After the AFABF got its foot in the door then maybe the amount could increase to ½ million per year.

League of Municipalities - Charlie Dixon wants to be able to promote AFABF at the meeting

Discussion of tag bill. The AFABF will probably have to drop the tag bill and go a different route since there is so much opposition.

Discussion about the AFA Summer Conference. It is going to be big deal. Other conferences are coming up in the upcoming months; this would be great exposure for the AFABF.

The next AFABF meeting will be May 7th at 1:30 pm at AFC.

Motion to adjourn made by Zeke

Second by Billy Doss

Motion passed unanimously

_________________________________

Chairman Dale Wyatt/ Date

_________________________________

Secretary Tiffany Crutchfield

Alabama Firefighters’ Annuity & Benefit Fund

Meeting Minutes

Alabama Fire College 1:30 pm

05/08/2014

Members Present:

Chairman Dale Wyatt

Vice Chairman Reid Vaughan

Robert Ezekiel (“Zeke”)

Billy Doss

Charlie Dixon

*A Quorum was present at this meeting to conduct business.

Secretary’s Report, Approval of Meeting Minutes, and Financial Report

Meeting minutes from 03/05/2014 were presented by the Secretary

Motion to accept Minutes by Zeke

Second made by Charlie Dixon

Motion passed unanimously

Financial Report for March 1st through April 30th presented by the Secretary

Motion to accept Financial Report made by Charlie Dixon

Second made by Billy Doss

Motion passed unanimously

Secretary reported that there were no new members to sign up. One individual has filled out part of the paperwork but has not completed the membership process. There have been a few individuals inquiring about the Fund.

Old Business

Reid transferred $65,000 to RSA State Street Bank today. We should be able to transfer money by our online login through Regions to the State Street account. If done at a bank, the transfer will incur a fee of $20 from Regions. There will be no charge if we transfer the money ourselves online.

Discussion about promotion at Pennington Fire Department. Pennington Fire Department has about 19 members.

New Business

Invoice from the Alabama Fire College for Secretary Office Contract was presented for approval.

Motion to approve and pay the AFC invoice made by Zeke

Second made by Reid Vaughan

Motion passed unanimously

Reid Vaughan began a discussion about approaching the Legislature for a ¼ million dollars in funds yearly along with adding Volunteer Rescue Squads to the eligibility for the AFABF. In order to do this, the code would have to be amended. Discussion progressed to the difficulty of sun setting the Fund next Legislative session because of the RSA account, members, and flow of money (though small). More discussion was brought up about tracking Rescue Squad members and having an active database on these members. No decisions or actions were made at this time. The Fund is in discussion mode only at this time.

The Secretary also presented an issue. The Law says that in order for a vested member to draw funds, he or she must be 62 years old or older and be retired from the fire service. This poses a real issue for volunteer members. Since many volunteers will never truly retire from the fire service, they will never become eligible for benefit. There was a discussion held about the Fund amending or changing the wording in the law. No action was made at this time. The Secretary will read through the law again to see if there are more issues that need attention.

Discussion that Zeke and Reid need new appointment letters by September 2014 to remain on the board. Dale needs a new appointment by October 2014.

Next meeting has been set for July 16th at 1:30 pm at the AFC.

Adjourn

Motion made to adjourn made by Reid Vaughan

Second by Zeke

Motion passed unanimously

_________________________________

Chairman Dale Wyatt/ Date

_________________________________

Secretary Tiffany Crutchfield

Alabama Firefighters’ Annuity & Benefit Fund

Meeting Minutes

Alabama Fire College 1:30 pm

07/16/2014

Members Present:

Chairman Dale Wyatt

Vice Chairman Reid Vaughan (came in at “new business” portion of meeting)

Robert Ezekiel (“Zeke”)

Billy Doss

Charlie Dixon

*A Quorum was present at this meeting to conduct business.

Secretary’s Report, Approval of Meeting Minutes, and Financial Report

Meeting minutes from 05/08/2014 were presented by the Secretary

Motion to accept Minutes by Zeke

Second made by Charlie Dixon

Motion passed unanimously

Financial Report for May 1st - June 30, 2014 presented by the Secretary

Motion to accept Financial Report made by Billy Doss

Second made by Charlie Dixon

Motion passed unanimously

Discussion about the change of the Financial Report. There will be a change in how the Financial report is presented in regards to bank balance, RSA investment, and total assets. No new members have been received. Secretary talked to Chief Michael Lucas about the fund, may need to follow up. Discussion about AFABF contract employee and the exit of the current Secretary. Dale will be talking to Alan about contract adjustments.

Old Business

All current board members need to gather letters of appointment to be put on file. Chris Mullins, replacement for Zeke in September 2014, will also need an appointment letter.

New Business

There was discussion about adding $1 onto all firefighter tags (retired included) to help dedicate funding for the AFABF as well as the Firefighter Memorial and the Fire Museum. AFABF would take $0.50, Memorial $0.25, and Museum $0.25. AFABF needs to find out the sponsors of the already proposed addition of $0.15 to the tags in order to possibly add in these other funding needs. This $1 addition may require the need for new legislation.

Reid brought up discussion as to how to prevent opposition of the Fund. He would like to see Forestry and the Rescue Squad added into the AFABF coverage. There were no further decisions made.

The next AFABF meeting will be held on September 12, 2014 at 12:00 pm or immediately after the Joint Fire Council Meeting located at the Alabama Fire College.

Adjourn

Motion made to adjourn made by Charlie Dixon

Second by Billy Doss

Motion passed unanimously

_________________________________

Chairman Dale Wyatt/ Date

_________________________________

Secretary Tiffany Crutchfield

Alabama Firefighters’ Annuity & Benefit Fund

Meeting Minutes

Alabama Fire College 1:30 pm

10/15/2014

Members Present:

Chairman Dale Wyatt

Vice Chairman Reid Vaughan

Chris Mullins

Billy Doss

*A Quorum was present at this meeting to conduct business.

Secretary’s Report, Approval of Meeting Minutes, and Financial Report

Meeting minutes from 07/16/2014 were presented by the Secretary

Motion to accept Minutes by Reid Vaughan

Second made by Billy Doss

Motion passed unanimously

Financial Report for July 1 through September 30, 2014 presented by the Secretary

Motion to accept Financial Report made by Reid Vaughan

Second made by Billy Doss

Motion passed unanimously

Discussion: R. Vaughan reported that a current member called to see if the Board had received his final buy back payment. R. Vaughan will work with Suzanne Richey to verify receipt and confirm with member that payment was received.

Old Business

No old business to discuss.

New Business

D. Wyatt welcomed Chris Mullins as new Board Representative for the Alabama Association of Fire Chiefs, replacing Robert Ezekiel. The Board received Chris Mullins letter of appointment dated August 23, 2014.

Motion to appoint Suzanne Richey as Secretary made by Dale Wyatt

Second made by Reid Vaughan

Motion passed unanimously

Discussion: D. Wyatt and R. Vaughan reported that the appointment of Suzanne Richey as Secretary due to Tiffany Crutchfield’s resignation. R. Vaughan will send this meeting’s minutes to Risk Management so that the Bond applies to Suzanne Richey instead of Tiffany Crutchfield. According to R. Vaughan, Secretary’s duties will include updating the Annuity & Benefit Fund website with all past Board meeting minutes. There was general discussion of the accounting procedures involved with processing of the $2 check off checks that the Fund receives from each county.

RSA investment: R. Vaughan reported that the Board has not received a statement from RSA on investment and that the RSA distribution list needs to be updated with correct contact email addresses for Annuity Board. Per R. Vaughan, in March/April, the Financial Report will be reviewed to determine additional investments with RSA. D. Wyatt reported that the Annuity Fund currently has 2 sources of income: Property tax check off and state income tax check off donation. This is the first year for the state income tax donations so do not know what this amount will be. The need to lock into a dedicated funding source for the Annuity Fund continues in order for membership to grow. At this time, no legislation to provide this dedicated funding.

Billy Doss: On July 24 -25, 2015, the Alabama Association of Volunteer Fire Departments Annual Conference will be held at the Fire College, dinner will be held at Bobby Miller Center. There will be Competition Teams and currently looking for sponsors for those teams.

The next AFABF meeting will be held on December 18, 2014 at 1:30 pm. R. Vaughan: The secretary will post the next Board meeting on Open Meeting and mail notices to all Board members.

Adjourn

Motion made to adjourn made by Reid Vaughan

Second by Billy Doss

Motion passed unanimously

_________________________________

Chairman Dale Wyatt/ Date

_________________________________

Secretary Suzanne Richey

Alabama Firefighters’ Annuity and Benefit Fund

Meeting Minutes

Alabama Fire College 1:30 pm

12/18/2014

Members Present:

Vice Chairman Reid Vaughan

Billy Doss

Charlie Dixon

Chris Mullin

*A Quorum was present at this meeting to conduct business.

Secretary’s Report, Approval of previous Meeting Minutes and Financial Report

Meeting minutes from 10/15/2014 were presented by the Secretary

Motion to accept minutes by Mr. Doss to accept minutes as printed

Second made by Mr. Dixon

Motion passed unanimously

Financial Report for October 1 through November 28th, 2014 presented by the Secretary

Motion to accept Financial Report made by Mr. Dixon

Second made by Mr. Mullins

Motion passed unanimously

Discussion: Mr. Vaughan reported that the Fund received $4,123.00 from the State of Alabama Department of Revenue from the voluntary check off box on the state income tax form.

Old Business

RSA Distribution List: Mr. Vaughan reported that the Chairman sent the current Board Member list and new Secretary information to RSA to update their distribution list.

No other old business to discuss.

New Business

The Board reviewed its first Application for Service Retirement for a newly retired member of the Annuity Fund. Member submitted his Application on 10/14/14. His Alabama fire service began on 2/27/88 and he retired on 2/27/2012. He completed 25 years of service with full payment of the buy back amount. Mr. Vaughan reported that this member at 64 years old has satisfied every portion of eligibility to begin receiving benefits under the legislation and recommends approval by the Board. The question is the date the payments should begin. Does this member begin receiving payment on the first of the month in which application was received or first of the following month? Legislation only states that the benefit will begin upon approval by the Board on the date of the member’s application for the benefits on forms provided by the Board. The legislation is unclear as to how to actually administer this provision. Mr. Vaughan recommends the safest course of action is to begin benefit payment for October 1, 2014 and at the next Board meeting, review the legislation and determine what the effective date of benefits will be when an Application for Service Retirement is received mid month. The current language is open to interpretation and administrative code should be developed so the current and future Boards administer the effective date of benefits uniformly. Mr. Vaughan recommends that the first payment to this member be by check for the months of October, November and December. Member will then begin receiving benefits by direct deposit through Itreasury on January 10, 2015.

Motion to approve member’s Application for Service Retirement made by Mr. Dixon

Second made by Mr. Doss

Motion passed unanimously

Discussion: Mr. Dixon discussed the importance of the need for the Fund to have representation at the State House. Mr. Vaughan: now is the time to push the importance of this Fund to help with the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters. This Fund will help the small town volunteer fire departments recruit more volunteers. Additional funding sources still sought. Another review by actuary will be needed soon as the Fund is growing and the annuity benefit could increase. Request the Joint Fire Council to support the Annuity and Benefit Fund.

Mr. Dixon requested a change in the meeting time to earlier in the day. After discussion, it was determined that the meeting time should be changed to 9 am.

The next AFABF meeting will be held on February 11, 2015 at 9:00 am. Mr. Dixon also requested that all future Board Meeting reminders include the previous meeting’s minutes.

Adjourn

Motion made to adjourn to Mr. Doss

Second by Mr. Mullins

Motion passed unanimously

___________________________________________________

Dale Wyatt, Chairman Date

____________________________________________________

Secretary Date