Board approves pension audit

The Longboat Key Firefighters’ Pension Board approved two pension investigations at its quarterly meeting Wednesday, Nov. 17, that will cost taxpayers about $65,000.

Previously, the Town Commission was concerned with the board’s decision to hire Benchmark Financial Services to perform an audit at a cost of $50,000 in taxpayer dollars.

Knowing the commission has issues with the study being performed, St. Denis asked that the meeting be advertised as a Town Commission meeting, which allowed commissioners to speak.

But three commissioners and St. Denis chose not to speak at the meeting as the board discussed its eventual decision for nearly six hours.

The pension board, comprising a majority of firefighters, wants to analyze all the decisions made by the board, its attorneys and actuaries. Pension board chairman Keith Tanner said the study needs to be performed because suspicions about the under-funded pension plan have continued to grow.

The board will enter into a contract with Benchmark to investigate everyone who has made decisions for the pension and agreed to hire actuary firm Segal Co. to research the firm’s actuarial decisions since the plan’s inception.

Firefighters Keith Tanner and Brandon Desch, as well as retired firefighter Michael Murphy, approved both studies.

Key resident Shannon Gault voted against both motions, and Key resident Gerald Feder voted against the Benchmark motion and for the Segal Co. motion.

For more information, pick up a copy of the Nov. 25 edition of The Longboat Observer.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].