The Mansfield City Council met on Thursday evening, October 15. One item of new business, a change in the retirement fund deposits.
In 2008, under former Mayor Glen Hurt, the council voted to approve a retirement plan for qualified elected officials and the city attorney. It wasn’t until five years later that provisions were made to fund that plan. At that time, the council voted to take $500 each monthly from: general, water, street and waste management to be deposit into the retirement fund.
Then, in January of 2018, the council voted to increase those deposits to $1,000 each, “to ensure it was being funded.” Deposits into the retirement fund went from $2,000-$4,000 monthly.
The city has, for the past seven years, been taking the funds from those accounts and depositing the money into the retirement plan. However, on Thursday evening, the current council was informed of an issue with those retirement deposits. Mayor Buddy Black informed the council that he had spoken with the auditor and “was told we cannot take money from the water and street fund, and that it must be paid back pretty quickly.”
“It is sad no one thought to begin putting money into that plan,” stated Councilwoman Beverly Lyons. Councilwoman Sheri Hopkins agreed, stating, “I’ve never heard of a retirement plan you don’t contribute to.”
Councilman Dave Johnson asked, “did we just figure this out after seven years?” City Recorder/Treasurer Becky Walker informed Johnson that it was not mentioned to her in the audit response. Black added that “everyone thought they were doing the right thing…”
Black verified the information with the auditor, the auditor’s supervisor, the Arkansas Municipal League and an opinion rendered by former Attorney General Winston Bryant. Bryant, stated “revenues derived from county road tax shall be used for the sole purpose of constructing and repairing public roads and bridges within the county wherein levied.” Bryant was clear in his opinion that those funds may not be used for other purposes such as funding retirement accounts.
“We need to get this paid back, and we need to get it done now,” added Lyons. The council discussed ways in which the $121,000 would be paid back. Ultimately, it was decided that half would come from the retirement fund, and the other half would come from waste management.
Going forward, the deposits will be reduced by half. The council will be reviewing a new budget at the next meeting, and Mayor Black stated “at that time we will make all necessary adjustments.”
The council voted in May to nix automatic 3% raises for retirees. Currently, former Mayor Glen Hurt is the only recipient of the plan. However, three others are, or will be eligible: current City Attorney Matt Ketcham, former Recorder/Treasurer Anna Sterling and current Recorder/Treasurer Becky Walker.
