On Feb 7, 2017, at 8:50 PM, Cameron Diehl <cdiehl@ulct.org> wrote:

Sen. Weiler, Lincoln, and Liz,

Thanks for the time earlier today. Since 2005, 13 peace officers from local government have lost their lives in the line of duty. I’ve contacted DPS to inquire about the current state of the fund, participation rates in the fund, and actuarial assumptions. Ken Leetham pointed out that many cities have skipped on participating in the Trust Fund because they believe it is more cost-effective to self-fund. I hope to have those answers for you in the morning.

In the meantime, here is the concept that we discussed:

1. Every city, county, agency would be compelled to participate in the Trust Fund
2. The rate would be set annually (per current law) by the Board of Trustees (hopefully, the rate would be less than $95 per employee)
3. The 13 agencies would receive a credit toward their annual mandatory contribution to the Fund (for example, Ogden is paying for benefits for the next two years, and would thus get a credit against their contribution for that period)
4. The 13 agencies would be responsible for 24 months of benefits for the surviving spouses between July 1, 2017 and July 1, 2019, after which the Trust Fund would cover the benefit cost
5. After July 1, 2017, there would be a second system for surviving spouses that would expire upon marriage or new benefits, with a spring back provision

The current Trust Fund Board of Trustees membership, 53-17-402(1) consists of the following 4 members: DPS Commissioner Keith Squires (or his designee), GOMB Executive Director (or his designee), a ULCT representative (Gary Hill), and a UAC representative.

The current state rules about the Trust Fund are:

http://www.rules.utah.gov/publicat/code/r698/r698-008.htm

I also included Commissioner Squires’ notification letter:

http://site.utah.gov/ulct/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/06/LineOfDutyDeathNotificationLetter.pdf

Let me know what else I can provide. I’ll notify you when I hear back from DPS tomorrow. 

Since the Committee meeting yesterday, I’ve been discussing a compromise strategy with Lincoln Shurtz and Cameron Diehl. The compromise would be to allow affected agencies to have their surviving families covered through the Trust Fund beginning in July of 2019, thus requiring those agencies to join the Trust Fund and for the first 24 months of their membership in the Fund, those agencies pay 100% of the costs of the coverage for their affected families. There would be no reimbursement for payments previously made.

Based upon my reaching out to affected agencies, there are realistically 6 cities, 5 counties and 2 special districts directly affected. Of those entities, at least two cities and one county have indicated to us that it is more cost effective for them to self-provide benefits rather than pay into the Trust Fund even at the rate of $95 per employee. I am assuming that the State of Utah will also self-fund rather than participate in the Trust Fund. So the realistic cost to the Fund in the future is likely closer to $160-180k per year. Also, that estimate is assuming a worst-case scenario where all potential families are covered 100% of the time. As a practical matter, over the life of potential coverage these families will move in and out of Trust coverage as they obtain employment or superior coverage in other ways through marriage, etc.

Finally, our affected cities and counties could accept a compromise that adds more obligation than 24 months, if needed, since there’s only upside to them for any compromise that is made. I believe that 24 months will be sufficient time, but the bill could also include longer time frames if you believe that would assist in its passage.