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Teacher Retirement System Board Meeting
May 2015
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The TRS board met for their bimonthly meeting on May 27, 2014. TRS Net Assets are down from the March meeting but remain up for the year at $67,983,622,539. This represents a $1.5 billion increase, fiscal year to date. The TRS board welcomed new teacher member Christopher Swanson. The board heard a final legislative report as well as COLA discussions for members retiring from July 1, 2014- December 1, 2014. The board voted on a maximum percentage increase for FY 2016, set the FY 17 employer and employee contribution rates and elected board members for FY 2016. More detailed information is listed below.
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Membership and Retirement Report
- FYTD there are 3,591 retirements compared to 3,420 at this time last year.
- Average years of service for retirees with 10 to 24 years of service is 16.6 years.
- Average years of service for retirees with 25 plus years of service is 30.7 years.
- Average age for service retirement is 59 years.
- The average monthly benefit for service retirees is $3,153.
- There are currently 109,914 retirees.
- There are currently 252,967 active TRS members compared 248,520 at this time last year.
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Financial Statements
TRS net assets in March 2014 were $64,602,222,336. TRS net assets in March 2015 were $67,481,902,207.
TRS net assets in April 2014 were $64,710,868,612. TRS net assets in April 2015 were $67,983,622,539.
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Legislative Update
The House and Senate retirement committees met to decide which fiscal bills would be moved forward for actuarial studies.
The following bills were not forwarded for actuarial study:
- SB 152 - This bill would have created a hybrid version of TRS for new teachers entering the profession in 2017.
- HB 459 - This bill would have allowed service credit for certain federal bureau of prisons and schools operated by the U.S. Department of Defense.
- HB 698 - This bill would have prevented public retirement funds from investing in companies or business that produce, sell, or market songs with lyrics containing specific words listed in the bill.
The following bills were forwarded for actuarial study:
- SB 246 - This bill requires public funds to identify all holdings in scrutinized companies. A scrutinized company is a company doing business with the government of a proscribed country, a company complicit in the Darfur genocide, or a company that supplies certain military equipment to a proscribed country.
The following is a non-fiscal bill:
- HB 217 - was signed by the governor and expands the list of allowable retirement funds to include mutual funds registered with the SEC and collective investments registered with the comptroller of the currency.
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Adoption of Maximum Percentage Increase for Two-Year Average Salary for FY 2016
- Employees of the Board of Regents 3.50%.
- All others 4.24%.
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COLA Eligibility for July 1, 2014 - December 1, 2014 Retirees
To determine Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs), every retiree is assigned a base index determined by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) average for their retirement period (the six month period ending July 1 is defined by the prior November through April; the period ending January 1 is defined as the prior May through October). Retirees are eligible for a COLA if the current index (the six month period ending July 1 or January 1 of each year) is equal to or greater than their base index. If the current index is lower than a retiree's base index, the retiree does not qualify for a COLA.
The current index used to assess July 1, 2015 COLAs is 235.352 (average CPI for November, 2014 - April, 2015).
The base index for anyone retiring July 1, 2014 - December 1, 2014 is 237.968 (the average CPI for the six month period ending October 2014).
In order for any retiree to qualify for a COLA, their base index needs to be, currently, no higher than 235.352. The only group that does not currently qualify for a COLA are retirees who retired July 1, 2014 - December 1, 2014.
To read PAGE'S report about SB 152, CLICK HERE.
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Adoption of FY 2017 Employee and Employer Contribution Rates
Employer and employee contribution rates will remain the same for FY 17 at 14.27% for employers and 6.00% for employees.
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Election of Retired Member Trustee
Deborah Simonds was re-elected as the Retired Member Trustee on the TRS Board.
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Board Elections for FY 2016
- Alvin Wilbanks was elected Chair of the Board of Trustees.
- Thomas Norwood was elected Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees.
- Wanda Creel, Greg Griffin, Steve McCoy, Thomas Norwood, Deborah Simonds and Alvin Wilbanks were all elected to the investment committee.
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Actuarial Firm Cavanaugh Macdonald Presented the June 30, 2014 TRS Actuarial Valuation
- TRS had market returns of 13.28% for 2013, and 17.17% for 2014.
- There is a slight increase of the Unfunded Actuarial Accrued Liability and increase in funded ratio; the funded ratio for 2014 was 81.9% and 81.1% in 2013.
- There was a decrease of 0.01% in active membership.
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Sean DeVetter - Staff Attorney
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PAGE's core business is to provide professional learning for educators that will enhance professional competence and confidence, build leadership qualities and lead to higher academic achievement for students, while providing the best in membership, legislative and legal services and support |
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