"The Dallas Police and Fire Pension System's Board of Trustees suspended lump-sum withdrawals from the pension fund...
The system was set to pay out the weekly requests Friday.
Pension officials said allowing the withdrawals would leave them without the liquid reserves required to sustain the $2.1 billion fund.
...Pension officials and many police and firefighters have blamed Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings for forcing the latest run on the bank. Dozens of retirees rushed to request withdrawals after Rawlings filed a lawsuit Monday to stop the withdrawals.
By then, more than $500 million had already gushed from the fund since the board proposed benefit cuts in August.
...Council member Philip Kingston, a board trustee, said the mayor "unquestionably" forced the pension board's hand. He said Thursday was "the worst day I've had in public office."
...Kingston said the tough decision will be worth it if it means the pension, which is hurtling toward insolvency within the next decade or so, can be saved.
...the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, or DROP, ...originally intended as a retention perk for veterans, made hundreds of officers, firefighters and retirees into millionaires. DROP allowed them to retire on paper, continue working and meanwhile defer their pension benefit checks into a separate account. Once they actually retired, they could remain in DROP and continue deferring their checks.
For years, DROP guaranteed at least 8 percent interest on the money.
That hurt the entire fund when the investment returns couldn't keep up. The problem was made worse when the pension's current administration revealed that their predecessors had significantly overvalued risky real estate investments.
The city proposal would wipe away the DROP interest over the years wiping it away from existing DROP accounts or adjusting future monthly benefits for those who already took their money out.
Kingston ...called the city's plan "Draconian." But so is the pension system's request for a $1.1 billion taxpayer bailout, he said.
Both taxpayers and police and firefighters will have to share in the pain, he said.
..."I don't think everyone understood the severity beyond their own personal gain as opposed to looking at it with a global view," he said. "But I don't expect them to because they're looking out for their pension. It was difficult."
...Josh Mond, the pension system's general counsel, pointed out that Bernal and others had profited off keeping their DROP accounts because he made money off the guaranteed interest rate. The rate is currently 6 percent.
Retirees will also continue to receive their monthly pension benefits.
..."This thing was going down and all we were doing was rearranging some deck chairs"...
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-city-hall/2016/12/08/dallas-police-fire-pension-board-ends-run-bank-stops-154m-withdrawals
The system was set to pay out the weekly requests Friday.
Pension officials said allowing the withdrawals would leave them without the liquid reserves required to sustain the $2.1 billion fund.
Say Yes Guilford's scholorship endowment is unsustainable,
as Guilford County's parents were lied to
by Guilford County's School Board, Guilford County's Commissioners
and the City of Greensboro's City Council,
whose former employees are running on empty without the community knowing,
with a whole lot of help from Greensboro's News and Record
which is somehow trying to cover its ass after misleading our community
with more than enough help from Susan Ladd and Steven Doyle.
...Pension officials and many police and firefighters have blamed Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings for forcing the latest run on the bank. Dozens of retirees rushed to request withdrawals after Rawlings filed a lawsuit Monday to stop the withdrawals.
By then, more than $500 million had already gushed from the fund since the board proposed benefit cuts in August.
...Council member Philip Kingston, a board trustee, said the mayor "unquestionably" forced the pension board's hand. He said Thursday was "the worst day I've had in public office."
...Kingston said the tough decision will be worth it if it means the pension, which is hurtling toward insolvency within the next decade or so, can be saved.
It can't be saved
unless the central banks print so much money,
and financial markets go so high,
the fund will be solvent, but a gallon of gas will be $50
...the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, or DROP, ...originally intended as a retention perk for veterans, made hundreds of officers, firefighters and retirees into millionaires. DROP allowed them to retire on paper, continue working and meanwhile defer their pension benefit checks into a separate account. Once they actually retired, they could remain in DROP and continue deferring their checks.
Ponzi, very much like Say Yes Guilford,
which has less than $11 million, after anouncing it had under $41 million
meaning Guilford County's parents were lied to
by Guilford County's School Board, Guilford County's Commissioners
and the City of Greensboro's City Council,
with the help of the News and Record
For years, DROP guaranteed at least 8 percent interest on the money.
Ponzi
That hurt the entire fund when the investment returns couldn't keep up. The problem was made worse when the pension's current administration revealed that their predecessors had significantly overvalued risky real estate investments.
Ponzi
The city proposal would wipe away the DROP interest over the years wiping it away from existing DROP accounts or adjusting future monthly benefits for those who already took their money out.
Kingston ...called the city's plan "Draconian." But so is the pension system's request for a $1.1 billion taxpayer bailout, he said.
Say Yes to Education
Both taxpayers and police and firefighters will have to share in the pain, he said.
Say Yes Guilford
..."I don't think everyone understood the severity beyond their own personal gain as opposed to looking at it with a global view," he said. "But I don't expect them to because they're looking out for their pension. It was difficult."
Ponzi
...Josh Mond, the pension system's general counsel, pointed out that Bernal and others had profited off keeping their DROP accounts because he made money off the guaranteed interest rate. The rate is currently 6 percent.
Ponzi
Retirees will also continue to receive their monthly pension benefits.
..."This thing was going down and all we were doing was rearranging some deck chairs"...
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-city-hall/2016/12/08/dallas-police-fire-pension-board-ends-run-bank-stops-154m-withdrawals
