Fire Pension Board Meeting Summary - March 12, 2026
Fire Pension Board Meeting - March 12, 2026
The Fire Pension Board held a regular meeting on Thursday, March 12, 2026, at 11:00 AM in City Hall Conference Room 503. Board members present were Finance Director Barbara Lopez, Curt Vandver, and City Clerk Dan Vessels Jr. (acting as chair in Mayor Whitting's absence). All votes were unanimous 3-0.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Agenda: Motion by Vandver, second by Lopez, passed 3-0.
- Approval of December 11, 2025 Minutes: Motion by Lopez, second by Vandver, passed 3-0.
Discussion Items
- Financial Update (as of February 28, 2026): Finance Director Lopez reported that the pension fund ended 2025 with just under $1,000,000. The city opted not to make its typical $80,000 contribution, instead drawing slightly on the fund balance. For 2026, the fund is projected to close at approximately $900,000, with steady revenue from the fire insurance premium tax and interest income. The board learned that the city has engaged Milliman Actuarial Services to perform the required biennial actuarial study, with results expected within approximately three months. The board approved the financial report.
- Fire Pension Calculations (as of January 1, 2026): Lopez presented the annual pension calculations, which incorporate final wage data from Central Pierce Fire & Rescue. Board member Vandver raised questions about two retirees: Richard Carmen's listed rank (assistant chief) and Marlin's pension calculation. Lopez clarified that Marlin's pension is based on a non-duty disability retirement and is adjusted by CPI rather than tied to current Central Pierce wages. The board accepted the calculations as presented.
Key Outcomes
- Approved Financial Report (motion by Vessels, second by Vandver, 3-0).
- Approved Fire Pension Calculations (motion by Vandver, second by Vessels, 3-0).
- Set 2026 Meeting Dates: Per Mayor Whitting's request, remaining 2026 meetings will be held on Tuesdays instead of Thursdays. The dates are June 9, September 8, and December 8, all at 11:00 AM in Conference Room 503, subject to notice of any scheduling changes (motion by Vandver, second by Lopez, 3-0).
- Adjournment: 11:07 AM.
Meeting Transcript
I've heard now that we need a hopeful we can get in and out of here pretty quickly. Okay, the time is 11 o'clock on Thursday, March 12th. Uh, from the city clerk calling the meeting to order on behalf of Mayor Whitting, who asked me to stand in as he is out of town. Um we'll note that we have a quorum present. Um, do I have a motion to approve the agenda? I shall move. Second. All in favor. I thank you. Uh consideration of minutes from the December 11th meeting. I'll move approval. I'll second that. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Perfect. Thank you. Okay. And then I will turn it over to Barbara for our uh capital report as of February 28th. So again, no big changes from last um from the last meeting. We ended up the year of 2025 with just shy of a million dollars in that fund. We had expected it to come below a million because the city didn't kick in its normal 80,000. We've just decided to use a little bit of the fund balance instead. So for 26, um, you know, we're still planning on the fire insurance premium tax. There's been no change to that um as yet, some interest coming in. And at the end of the year, we expect to have about 900,000 dollars in in that fund. I will make a note that we have engaged with Millen actuarial services, and so we do have an actuarial report that is in progress. I don't know when I will have the results of that. It should be within the next three-ish months, I would say, but we're required to do an actuarial study on the fund every other year. And so we are due with it with 2026. So that is underway. Happy to answer any questions. Uh there being no questions, um, I move to approve the financial report. All second all was in favor. Aye. Well, the calculations as of January 1st. Yes. So when we met uh at our last meeting in December, we were still just waiting for confirmation from um Central Pierce Fire on what their wages were going to be. We knew that it that there was a percent increase, but we were just waiting for um the actual schedules to come out. Um what you see attached here for January are the changes that we made effective January 1st. Um so retirees have been getting that amount, um, but wanted to bring it to the um to the board for formal approval uh as that's required. Happy to answer any questions. Um I've got a few questions, and I think it's just bookkeeping stuff. But I see that they've got Richard Carmen retired as an assistant chief, and they've got him retired as assistant chief, but then of course the highest they could go underneath this pension system is battalion chief. Uh we changed, yeah. We just need to we just need to put the rank at retirement back at assistant chief for those folks. And and the other thing, and I and I think it's simply because of the fact we don't do anything with Marlins until June, because he's the one that's an on-duty disability and gets a but I noticed if they didn't have the um the longevity or the um what do they call it deferred comp. Right. That does not factor in on his pardon. That does not factor in on his.
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