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Regular City Council Meeting <br />December 8, 2003 <br />Page 12 <br /> <br />memo they specifically say it does not apply to TMRS, but in reading the <br />amendment, it would apply to the Firemen's Pension Fund because it is not a <br />statewide pension plan. <br /> <br />City Attorney Schenk said what this means is that the city cannot reduce the <br />entitlement to the benefits. The city must maintain the level of benefits under <br />the system. The City Attorney said, for example, this last budgetary session, <br />the city increased the parity, increased the city's contribution into that system <br />to have it comparable to that of TMRS. He advised that the best reading your <br />can give to the language would be, unless this local option is replaced through <br />the election process, the city can no longer diminish that amount of <br />contribution on the part of the city, because the city would be reducing the <br />benefits that the participants in the program receive. City Attorney Schenk <br />said his office is going to pursue additional research on this to see what the best <br />legal minds say and see what the best interpretation is. <br /> <br />After discussion, a motion was made by Councilman Guest authorizing the <br />City Attorney to prepare an ordinance calling for a citywide election on Article <br />XVI, Section 66 of the Texas Constitution. The motion was seconded by <br />Councilwoman Neeley and carried 7 ayes, 0 nays. <br /> <br />Mayor Fendley called for the presentation of and providing direction to city <br />staff regarding the proposed Police Department Pay Plan. <br /> <br />Gene Anderson, Director of Finance, said at the last budget workshop the Chief <br />of Police had proposed a change in his pay plan and the City Council instructed <br />him to do an analysis of that and report back to Council on that. Mr. Anderson <br />said as part of the process, they updated the data and made sure it was correct. <br />They made sure the proposal addressed the group the Police Chief was most <br />concerned about, which was the group of people he thought he might lose to <br />other law enforcement agencies. They also analyzed it to make sure it would <br />fit within the Police Chief' s estimated savings and they also analyzed those <br />estimated savings to see if they were realistic estimates of what the savings <br />could be. They looked to see if they maintained a reasonable spread among <br /> <br /> <br />