Ocala Firefighters' Pension Board Meeting - June 29, 2026: Presentations from Pension Administration Firms and Board Deliberation
Ocala Firefighters' Pension Board Meeting - June 29, 2026
The Ocala Firefighters' Pension Board met on June 29, 2026, to hear presentations from five firms vying to become the plan's new administrator following the departure of the previous administrator, Alicia. The board heard from three firms during the recorded portion of the meeting (the remaining two presentations are referenced in later discussion but not captured in the transcript), deliberated on the proposals, and scheduled a special meeting for a final decision.
Proceedings from Recorded Presentations
Presentation by First Firm (likely HYN Consulting or Pension Resource Center – identity uncertain; transcript conflicts with later trustee descriptions)
- The speaker introduced his firm as employee-owned with 24 staff, administering about 70 Florida public plans. He emphasized a 3:1 ratio of back-office to front-facing staff, independent status, and a focus on people and technology.
- He proposed maintaining a local point of contact by integrating Mike Summer as an independent contractor for member services (similar to his existing role for the police plan). He offered to be operational within 30 days for benefit payments, including taking over the current Truist checking account and handling year-end 1099-R reporting.
- He stated the firm can perform the state annual report for a separate fee of $3,300, and can provide interim financial statements via a detailed general ledger (at an additional cost, as not all clients need it). He noted the firm undergoes a SOC 1 Type 2 audit (process and security).
- In response to questions, he clarified that the transition could be rapid (30 days for payments) and that the firm is experienced in handling payroll deductions (e.g., health insurance, union dues). He expressed a preference for the board to keep benefit payments with the administrator rather than moving them to the custodian, citing continuity and nimbleness.
Presentation by NIH (Nyhart) – Lawrence and Ryan Badel
- Lawrence, the board's actuary for eight years, introduced the firm's administration team. He stressed that NIH knows the plan intimately, including unique features like the COLA structure and lawsuit history. He noted that NIH already performs some administrative functions in partnership with the former administrator.
- Ryan Badel demonstrated the NIPASS online portal, which provides members with benefit calculators, self-service options, and real-time status updates. He highlighted that the portal is used internally and externally, and that NIH has strengthened its IT infrastructure since being acquired by Ascensus.
- Lawrence estimated the annual fee for administration between $50,000 and $70,000, which includes the state report. He clarified that bookkeeping (preparing the plan’s general ledger and financial statements) is not included in that estimate and would require additional fees if desired. He stated that NIH prefers not to hold plan assets but can issue payment directives to a custodian; they could also coordinate payments in-house if the board prefers.
- In response to a question about what would change if the board chose NIH, Lawrence explained that board meetings would be coordinated with a dedicated contact (Javier) who would prepare agendas, handle notices, and support the chair. He emphasized NIH’s values of integrity, transparency, and people-first service.
Presentation by Lauderbach & Eamon – Jennifer Flores and Marlene Barker
- Jennifer Flores introduced the firm as a government-accounting specialist founded in 1997, now with over 200 team members and 2,000+ active clients. They process 18,000 pensioner payments monthly and have a dedicated pension administration team.
- She stated that the firm has experience in Florida, notably with the Deltona Firefighters' Pension Plan. Their proposed fee is $55,000 flat, which is 100% comprehensive with no add-ons. This includes meeting attendance, agenda preparation, taking minutes, processing payroll, filing the state report, and bookkeeping. They do not charge extra for travel or postage.
- For benefit payments, they typically use a bank account in the pension fund’s name (e.g., with BML Bank) and the firm has signatory authority to run payroll. They can create a customized member portal with benefit calculators.
- Key engagement personnel would be Molly Barker, who is already the administrator for Deltona Fire. They provided client references (Deltona Fire and Lubbock Fire) for the board to contact.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were recorded.
Discussion Items
- After the presentations, the board discussed the five firms (HYN Consulting, Foster & Foster, Pension Resource Center, NIH, and Lauderbach & Eamon). Three of these (HYN, Foster & Foster, and Resource Center) were not fully captured in the transcript; the board’s discussion referenced them only briefly.
- Trustees narrowed their focus to three firms that offer broader services beyond pure administration: Foster & Foster, NIH, and Lauderbach & Eamon. They noted that Foster & Foster is a large actuarial firm with a strong Florida presence, NIH has a long-standing relationship and deep knowledge of the plan, and Lauderbach offered a very competitive comprehensive fee of $55,000.
- Concerns were raised about Lauderbach’s out-of-state location and the need for local support. Trustees agreed to contact the Deltona Fire pension board as a reference. They also considered that NIH had never done anything wrong and valued loyalty, while Lauderbach’s price was attractive but required verification.
- A motion was made to select NIH as the administrator, but it was withdrawn to allow time for due diligence, particularly to contact Deltona Fire about Lauderbach’s service.
Key Outcomes
- The board decided not to make a decision at this meeting. Instead, they will have one trustee (Rob) independently contact Deltona Fire’s pension board (with the stipulation that trustees cannot communicate outside of a public meeting) to gather feedback on Lauderbach & Eamon.
- A special meeting was scheduled for July 8, 2026 (with July 9 or 10 as back-up) to vote on the administrator. The board will meet publicly to discuss findings and render a decision.
- Note: The transcript captures only three of the five presentations. The board’s discussion references presentations from HYN Consulting, Foster & Foster, and Pension Resource Center that are not included in the provided recording. This summary is based solely on the available transcript.
Meeting Transcript
But certainly, if we go over to page one of the presentation, and if you want to stop me along the way, just feel free. And I'll try and keep you on track because I know that the police guys, they already put you behind from the get go. So maybe they're the ones that are a little bit different today. But in any case, you know, Acala has a vision as to be a great place to live and to play and to prosper. And it's really a function of how you guys do your job and by extension how we do the job for you if you choose us to do your the administration of your plan. Our proposal may be a little bit different than the others. I'm gonna just go on to two. So we have been doing nothing but plan administration since we started. It is the only thing that we do. We administer about 70 Florida public plans, and all taken together, it's about the size of a small state retirement system, though there are a lot of challenges just because there are many differences. Obviously, each plan that we work for is unique to itself. There are no two that are completely alike in any respect. Um, and each one has its own requirements, and we recognize that. Um I think that incorporated in our staff, we're not a huge company by any means. Um you know, some of the and we're friendly out there, by the way. We all know each other. Um, but between the ones of us who do this, um, some of them are smaller, and particularly some of the actual real firms are larger, so we're kind of in between there. But um we're not doing any other services, we're employee owned since I started it. Um I still hold a majority ownership of the company, but I have spread that among our other partners as well. Um so we do const focus some on some of the innovation and particularly gains that we can get from technology. But I will tell you that at the end of the day, we're very strongly a believer in people and the people side of what we do, and in addition to being independent, um, we maintain a very careful ratio of our personnel. If we have 24 people and about 70 plans that we administer at the moment, we're maintaining about a three to one ratio between our staff for every front-facing person. They're really within our team, two people behind them on the operation side, um, just to give you an idea. Operationally, we're a little bit different than some of the other administrators because we do things and have for more than 30 years things like paying pension benefits from our office. Um, and it's a choice, it's not a requirement. So among the people that we work for, about half of them we pay the benefits for, and about the other half are split over to the custodian. Um and a lot of times how that pans out just depends on how we inherited in the situations that we inherited as we got involved in the administration of the plan. And I understand that there are a lot of things that are changing here in the city. Nobody ever hires an administrator unless something comes along and happens, um, or not everything is perfect. So usually we come in in different kinds of circumstances, and so we're just well versed in those kinds of transitions. Um but you know, we do believe in the people. Um I'm just gonna kind of keep us moving along, and I'm gonna skip us over to number five. When we talk about administration, and you're gonna hear about all of the administrative services and details, um pretty much ad nauseum this afternoon, and I don't want to go then too heavily into it, because I believe that we're here because we're qualified and we understand the job and the things that you're asking us to do, all the way from the board administration side and the people side of this whole thing down to the level of the member. And on the other side of it, which is less visible to you is the information and operation side or data side, which also exists again at the level of the plan, all the way down to the individual member and the data that's used to determine the benefits that are due to each person who works for the city and has a member of the retirement system. Um so we will characterize that as an administration and a record keeping side from the administrative activities. Like I said, we are well versed in all of your reporting requirements, payment requirements, and I'll take a little bit more of my time and focus on some of those kinds of things. And some of the continuity will be a choice, even as to whether you want to continue to pay benefits to locally or you want to move that over to the custodian. But you got other things going on over there too. You know, we have half of a dozen plans that moved from truest over to principal just like yours. And we have half of a dozen plans where we pay benefits through truest operating accounts and local checking accounts. Again, that are just like yours. So many of those things are very similar. On the fire side of the plan and the benefit side, I actually do think you guys are pretty normal. You're not so far out there in any respect that I can see. On the continuity and service side, I want to tell you that I have had since this was I got it and I read through all of your minutes and other kinds of things. I had conversations with Mike Summer on the police side, because he is situated only for that plan, but providing services to some of the police officer members. And because your firefighter members have been used to being able to go to the city, probably through Alicia over time, for service and things like that. I thought it would be great if you still had a local point of contact. And this isn't a requirement, it's a choice. But I did actually have a conversation and get Mike to agree that if he wanted to extend his services over to this board so that there could be a local point of contact available to your members, he was willing to do that in addition to the police officer members.
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