7.1. SR 02-19-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Retirement planning for employers January 4, 2008 Mr. Tim Simon Finance Director, City of Elk River 13065 Orono Parkway Elk River, MN 55330 Re: Proposal for Actuarial Services -Retiree Medical Plan Dear Tim: Thank you for this opportunity to present our proposal to provide actuarial services to the City of Elk River. This letter gives a brief overview of our firm, our staff, and our proposal for performing an actuarial valuation of the City's retiree medical plan under GASB 43 and 45. Our Firm Van Iwaarden Associates was founded in 1991 by Jim Van Iwaarden. Since that time it has grown to become the largest independent actuarial firm in the upper Midwest. Our core practice is in three areas: defined benefit pension plans, defined contribution plan design, and retiree medical plans. We provide valuations and design consulting for over 200 plans each year, including several pension funds with assets over $100 million each. We're known for innovative retirement plan design. We have performed GASB 43/45 calculations for many early-acting clients including the Metropolitan Airports Commission, the City of Duluth, and many school districts including St. Cloud Area School District, Anoka Hennepin School District, and Osseo School District. We are currently in the process of completing valuations for Ramsey County, the City of St. Paul, and the St. Paul School District. A list of our other government and school district clients is attached. We have assisted employers in the private sector for years with similar calculations required under GAAP accounting standards (FAS 106 and FAS 132), including the Wilder Foundation and the Wisconsin Health Fund. We also work with several Taft-Hartley plans to value their OPEB liabilities under SOP 92-6. Retiree medical benefits for our client, the City of Duluth, were featured in the Sunday New York Times article "The Next Retirement Time Bomb" (Sunday Business, 12/11/05, front page). Brenda Hardy from our office is the unnamed actuary in that article. Over the past year we have made presentations on the GASB standards at the Minnesota Association of School Business Officials (MASBO) Spring Conference, the Minnesota Society of CPA's Conference, the Northeast OPEB Seminar, and the 2005 Ehlers & Associates School 4~:aK1u _ti.a~e>:Asu>~i,ti~rEs d~01_am~~r~.rzLixc~i,~ ci:C3;i~rntic 7;~~~So,,iHli?~iSifi[~>_ M1I :~arni~ous.:~IN 554r]~_IOIO 6 f 2.Sa6.5950 f h I'?. X96.5499 www.vnww ~~~.n::ti eo:~t