More communities are turning to the Arkansas Local Police & Fire Retirement System to oversee their pension funds.
Sixteen local fire or police pension funds with total assets of more than $14 million will have transferred administrative responsibility to LOPFI by year's end.
"There has been quite a bit of movement in that direction, and there's the potential for a couple more," said David Clark, LOPFI executive director. "It creates a great deal of efficiency."
The addition of these 16 will boost the overall pension fund assets managed by LOPFI to more than $750 million and increase the number of LOPFI-administered pensions to 127 heading into 2010.
That would leave 159 fire or police pensions administered by communities and under the purview of the Arkansas Fire & Police Pension Review Board.
Among the 16 pension fund transfers this year is one mandatory consolidation. The Brinkley Police Pension Fund has fallen below five members, which requires the city to turn over administrative duties to LOPFI. The Brinkley pension had total assets of $585,591 at year-end 2008.
The Clinton Fire Pension Fund is among the class of 2009 transferring its assets after the local board of trustees voted to dissolve and asked the city to be administrative agent to enter into an agreement with LOPFI.
"LOPFI is better than administering ourselves as far as I'm concerned," said Merl Eoff, Clinton city recorder/treasurer and fire pension board secretary. "It took a lot of time for our office to take care of this money. Now, it's there, and it's safe. We recommended this is what we need to do, and the city board agreed."
The transition is nearing completion, and the November pension checks will be the first issued by LOPFI to Clinton's 18 beneficiaries: 17 retired firefighters and a surviving spouse. Established in 1962, Clinton Fire Pension had total assets of $309,304 as of Dec. 31, 2008.
The severe market swing in 2008 heightened concerns of security for pensioners, and the grind of ongoing administrative chores has helped motivate more local pensions to consider consolidation.
"For the last several years, I've thought it was the best thing to do," Eoff said. "It's hard to change and let go of the control. [Local pension board members] came to the point where they realized it was what we needed to do."
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