2023 Texas Statutes › Vernon's Civil Statutes › Title 109 - Pensions › Article 6243h. Municipal Pension System in Cities of 1,500,000 or More › Section 8B. Risk Sharing Valuation Studies

Sec. 8B.  RISK SHARING VALUATION STUDIES.  (a)  The pension system and the city shall separately cause their respective actuaries to prepare a risk sharing valuation study in accordance with this section and actuarial standards of practice.  A risk sharing valuation study must:
(1)  be dated as of the first day of the fiscal year for which the study is required to be prepared;
(2)  be included in the annual valuation study prepared under Section 2B of this Act;
(3)  calculate the unfunded actuarial accrued liability of the pension system;
(4)  be based on actuarial data provided by the pension system actuary or, if actuarial data is not provided, on estimates of actuarial data;
(5)  estimate the city contribution rate and the city contribution amount, taking into account any adjustments required under Section 8E or 8F of this Act for all applicable prior fiscal years;
(6)  detail the city contribution rate and the city contribution amount, taking into account any adjustments required under Section 8E or 8F of this Act for all applicable prior fiscal years;
(7)  subject to Subsection (g) of this section, be based on the following assumptions and methods that are consistent with actuarial standards of practice:
(A)  an ultimate entry age normal actuarial method;
(B)  for purposes of determining the actuarial value of assets:
(i)  except as provided by Subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph and Section 8E(c)(1) or 8F(c)(1) of this Act, an asset smoothing method recognizing actuarial losses and gains over a five-year period applied prospectively beginning on the year 2017 effective date; and
(ii)  for the initial risk sharing valuation study prepared under Section 8C of this Act, a marked-to-market method applied as of June 30, 2016;
(C)  closed layered amortization of liability layers to ensure that the amortization period for each layer begins 12 months after the date of the risk sharing valuation study in which the liability layer is first recognized;
(D)  each liability layer is assigned an amortization period;
(E)  each liability loss layer amortized over a period of 30 years from the first day of the fiscal year beginning 12 months after the date of the risk sharing valuation study in which the liability loss layer is first recognized, except that the legacy liability must be amortized from July 1, 2016, for a 30-year period beginning July 1, 2017;
(F)  the amortization period for each liability gain layer being:
(i)  equal to the remaining amortization period on the largest remaining liability loss layer and the two layers must be treated as one layer such that if the payoff year of the liability loss layer is accelerated or extended, the payoff year of the liability gain layer is also accelerated or extended; or
(ii)  if there is no liability loss layer, a period of 30 years from the first day of the fiscal year beginning 12 months after the date of the risk sharing valuation study in which the liability gain layer is first recognized;
(G)  liability layers, including the legacy liability, funded according to the level percent of payroll method;
(H)  the assumed rate of return, subject to adjustment under Section 8E(c)(5) of this Act or, if Section 8C(g) of this Act applies, adjustment in accordance with a written agreement entered into under Section 3(n) of this Act, except that the assumed rate of return may not exceed seven percent per annum;
(I)  the price inflation assumption as of the most recent actuarial experience study, which may be reset by the pension board by plus or minus 50 basis points based on that actuarial experience study;
(J)  projected salary increases and payroll growth rate set in consultation with the city's finance director;
(K)  payroll for purposes of determining the corridor midpoint, city contribution rate, and city contribution amount must be projected using the annual payroll growth rate assumption, which for purposes of preparing any amortization schedule may not exceed three percent; and
(L)  the city contribution rate calculated without inclusion of the legacy liability; and
(8)  be revised and restated, if appropriate, not later than:
(A)  the date required by a written agreement entered into between the city and the pension board; or
(B)  the 30th day after the date required action is taken by the pension board under Section 8E or 8F of this Act to reflect any changes required by either section.
(b)  As soon as practicable after the end of a fiscal year, the pension system actuary at the direction of the pension system and the city actuary at the direction of the city shall separately prepare a proposed risk sharing valuation study based on the fiscal year that just ended.
(c)  Not later than October 31 following the end of the fiscal year, the pension system shall provide to the city actuary, under a confidentiality agreement with the pension board in which the city actuary agrees to comply with the confidentiality provisions of Section 8G of this Act, the actuarial data described by Subsection (a)(4) of this section.
(d)  Not later than the 150th day after the last day of the fiscal year:
(1)  the pension system actuary, at the direction of the pension system, shall provide the proposed risk sharing valuation study prepared by the pension system actuary under Subsection (b) of this section to the city actuary; and
(2)  the city actuary, at the direction of the city, shall provide the proposed risk sharing valuation study prepared by the city actuary under Subsection (b) of this section to the pension system actuary.
(e)  Each actuary described by Subsection (d) of this section may provide copies of the proposed risk sharing valuation studies to the city or the pension system as appropriate.
(f)  If, after exchanging proposed risk sharing valuation studies under Subsection (d) of this section, it is found that the difference between the estimated city contribution rate recommended in the proposed risk sharing valuation study prepared by the pension system actuary and the estimated city contribution rate recommended in the proposed risk sharing valuation study prepared by the city actuary for the corresponding fiscal year is:
(1)  less than or equal to two percentage points, the estimated city contribution rate recommended by the pension system actuary will be the estimated city contribution rate for purposes of Subsection (a)(5) of this section, and the proposed risk sharing valuation study prepared for the pension system is considered to be the final risk sharing valuation study for the fiscal year for the purposes of this Act; or
(2)  greater than two percentage points, the city actuary and the pension system actuary shall have 20 business days to reconcile the difference, provided that without the mutual agreement of both actuaries, the difference in the estimated city contribution rate recommended by the city actuary and the estimated city contribution rate recommended by the pension system actuary may not be further increased and:
(A)  if, as a result of reconciliation efforts under this subdivision, the difference is reduced to less than or equal to two percentage points:
(i)  the estimated city contribution rate proposed under the reconciliation by the pension system actuary will be the estimated city contribution rate for purposes of Subsection (a)(5) of this section; and
(ii)  the pension system's risk sharing valuation study is considered to be the final risk sharing valuation study for the fiscal year for the purposes of this Act; or
(B)  if, after 20 business days, the pension system actuary and the city actuary are not able to reach a reconciliation that reduces the difference to an amount less than or equal to two percentage points:
(i)  the city actuary at the direction of the city and the pension system actuary at the direction of the pension system each shall deliver to the finance director of the city and the executive director of the pension system a final risk sharing valuation study with any agreed-to changes, marked as the final risk sharing valuation study for each actuary; and
(ii)  not later than the 90th day before the first day of the next fiscal year, the finance director and the executive director shall execute a joint addendum to the final risk sharing valuation study received under Subparagraph (i) of this paragraph that is a part of the final risk sharing valuation study for the fiscal year for all purposes and reflects the arithmetic average of the estimated city contribution rates for the fiscal year stated by the city actuary and the pension system actuary in the final risk sharing valuation study for purposes of Subsection (a)(5) of this section, and for reporting purposes the pension system may treat the pension system actuary's risk sharing valuation study with the addendum as the final risk sharing valuation study.
(g)  The assumptions and methods used and the types of actuarial data and financial information used to prepare the initial risk sharing valuation study under Section 8C of this Act shall be used to prepare each subsequent risk sharing valuation study under this section, unless changed based on the actuarial experience study conducted under Section 8D of this Act.
(h)  The actuarial data provided under Subsection (a)(4) of this section may not include the identifying information of individual members.