Public Agency:
Bond, Consulting or Both:
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NHA Contributions: NHA supported staff by translating a large about of complex pension information and transfer tax revenue analysis to support a successful and transparent budget process. NHA helped increase awareness of the challenging pension situation during five separate meetings and workshops for the benefit of various stakeholders. Ultimately, NHA helped the City implement a prudent cost management strategy and new reserve policy that will help ensure that future surplus reserves will continue to be used towards rising pension liabilities.
Project Completion: June 2018
NHA Contact: Craig Hill and Mike Meyer
Unique Characteristics of Project: NHA played one of the key roles in the City’s Budget Workshops and focused on CalPERS pension education and developed a model to enhance the City’s accuracy for projecting transfer tax revenue, one of the City’s most volatile revenue streams. NHA helped implement a multi-pronged and targeted pension savings strategy and helped develop a new reserve policy.
Executive Summary: NHA was engaged to discuss pension cost trends, assumption changes, 30-year projected costs, and preliminary cost savings alternatives at a city council budget workshop. NHA also provided a detailed evaluation of the City’s historical transfer tax revenues and developed a model that helped to project this variable revenue stream with greater accuracy.
NHA worked with the City through additional workshops to present and “translate” this information to department heads, city council members, union representatives, and other employees. After a thorough review of the options presented, the City implemented a new pension funding strategy whereby it would dedicate 50% of annual surplus reserves to pension and OPEB, determining each year the desired allocation between OPEB and pensions and between a Section 115 Trust and direct UAL pay-down.
NHA continued its work with the City by assisting with the background financial analysis to support a sales tax measure that would go before voters.