TLFFRA Sets Dates for its Annual Conference, Sept. 7-9th, 2014 in Lufkin, Texas

The Texas Local Fire Fighters’ Retirement Act was created as a result of the Texas Legislature created the Office of the Fire Fighters’ Pension Commissioner (FFPC) during the Great Depression so as to protect the pensions of fire fighters throughout Texas.

Every year, TLFFRA hosts an Educational Pension Conference that focuses on strategies for pension fund administration and investments. The organization has set its 2014 dates as Sunday September 7 through Tuesday, September 9 in Lufkin, Texas, about a 2 hour drive northeast of Houston and a three hour drive southeast of Dallas. More information will be coming available at http://texasfirefighterpensionconference.org/.

Please consider attending next year’s conference. – Max Patterson

Texas’ Biggest Cities Compare Favorably to Others in Pension Costs Per Taxpayer Revenue

Cities have been under fire these last several years because there is the perception that they pay a disproportionate amount of yearly revenues to the retirement benefits of employees.

TEXPERS has been fighting this assertion on many fronts, but it’s nice when a third-party organization undertakes a major research project and adds some perspective to the issue.

The Center for State and Local Government Excellence released a study today, “Gauging the Burden of Public Pensions on Cities,” that asks a simple question: “How much do residents of a city pay for pensions—not just for city pensions, but also for school district and county pensions in their jurisdictions?”

To answer the question, the CSLGE researchers used data from 173 cities around the United States, including 10 of Texas’ biggest cities. Their finding was that, across the nation, pension costs average 7.9% of the total revenue base of those cities.

In Texas, our 10 biggest cities are among the bottom half of CSLGE’s 173 city sample, paying the least amount of taxpayer revenue to their pensions. In fact, the pension costs of the ten Texas cities average 4.2% of their tax revenues, nearly a full 50% below the national average.

The CSLGE study confirms what we’ve been saying over the years:

1)    Texas’ local pensions do not put their cities at financial risk
2)    Locally administered pension plans do a good job of managing a balance of city employee pension benefits with the city’s overall financial goals
3)    Compared to the statistics of pension systems in other states, Texas is head and shoulders above most, if not all, states on many different measures.

We are very pleased to see this study but we know this alone won’t change the minds of those with a bias against public employee pensions. – Max Patterson

Houston Chronicle Publishes TEXPERS Op-Ed on the Differences between Detroit and Houston

As a service to its membership and the taxpayers of Texas, TEXPERS tries to stay on top of the debates about pensions that occur in its different members’ cities.

Today, we had an article published in the Houston Chronicle in response to one columnist’s assertions that Houston is moving on the path to bankruptcy just as Detroit did recently.

We thought the assertion to be a bit much and had to take it on, which you can read here.

The lesson here is that respected columnists and newspaper folks sometimes just can’t resist the temptation to have knee-jerk reactions to what is occurring in other parts of the country and then to apply it to pensions here in Texas. It’s a dangerous game as it skews and misleads people’s view and opinion on pensions. We’ll continue to set the record straight on these matters whenever we can. – Max Patterson

TEXPERS Informational Video Now on YouTube

The Texas Association of Public Employees Retirement Systems is moving into its 25^th year and as such we thought it would be good to provide everyone with a visual overview of who we are and what we do.

Truly, the really remarkable story in the video is the dedication of our members and their staff. Our annual conference and summer forum are no picnics. They require time and attention from attendees. Listening to presentations on alphas, betas and deltas in the investing context is not easy. Neither is completion of our Certified Trustee Training program, for which many give up their weekend to complete. When you see in this video people intently listening to lectures and visiting with their legislators, please know they are taking time away from their real jobs to serve their pension system and, by extension, the taxpayers in their cities and towns, by ensuring the sound operation of a local pension system.

Please take a look. – Max Patterson