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City of Atlanta
 
Police Officers’ Pension Fund
TRUSTEE NEWSLETTER September 6,2002Welcome to the 8th edition of the Police Officers’ Pension FundTrustee Newsletter.Editor:
Louis Arcangeli, Pension Board Vice-Chairman
-
A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN
Dear Officers and Retirees;
As always, you are invitedto attend the meetings of thePolice Pension Fund Board. Thenext meeting is scheduled for
September 17 at 9:30 AM
, inCommittee Room 1 on the 2
nd
floor of City Hall. 
PENSION TRUSTEEELECTION:
 Vice-Chair Lou Arcangeli isstepping down from the boardafter the December 2002meeting. I have always enjoyedmy service to my fellow officers,but working with Lou over thepast few years has been aneye-opening experience and wehave accomplished greatthings. An election will be held inNovember to name Lou’ssuccessor. The 4-year term of office for the new trustee will befrom January 2003 throughDecember of 2006. To qualifyyou must send a certified letterrequesting that your name beplaced on the ballot to DirectorAndrea Spears of the EmployeeBenefits Division beforeSeptember 24th, 2002. Watchthe APD Daily Bulletin for formalnotification.
RETIREE BREAKFASTS:
 The Southside group of Atlanta Police Retirees meets at8:00 AM the SECOND Saturdayof every EVEN numberedmonth. Our next breakfastmeetings will be held on
October 12 and December14
th
 
starting at8:00 AM at the Golden Corral,Hwy 138 at I-675 inStockbridge. All APD officers, activeand retired, are invited!I am also informed that there isa North side
ROMEO's “RetiredOld Men Eating Out”
Breakfastheld the third Saturday of oddnumbered months. The nextmeetings start at 11:00 am on
September 21
st
and November16
th
at Ryan’s Steak House inCanton, off I-575 at exit 20(Riverstone Parkway)P.O.A.B. If you are not already amember I encourage you to sign onto the Peace Officer’s Annuity andBenefit Fund. Instructions areprovided below.
The APD
“OLD TIMER’S”ROUND-UP
will be held onFriday, OCTOBER 11, at thePavillion in Grant Park. Seeyou there!
LieutenantDon Lee(Retired)BoardChairman
Disclaimer 
:
 
This newsletter is produced and edited by elected trustees of the Police Officers’ Pension Fund for the sole purpose of fulfilling the fiduciary responsibilities associated withmanaging the assets of the fund and improving the services available to fund members. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or opinions of the City of Atlanta, thePension Board of Trustees, nor the opinions of other members of the Board. Lou Arcangeli 
-
 
 
Join the Ga Peace Officers Annuity and Benefit Plan
You are making a huge retirement mistake if you are not a member of theState of Georgia Peace Officers Annuity and Benefit Fund!The Georgia General Assembly created the Peace Officers’ Annuity andBenefit (POAB) fund in 1951 to provide a supplemental retirement benefit toGeorgia law enforcement officers. Currently the dues are $10.00 per monthand the retirement benefit is $23.69 per month times the number of yearsyou are a member. The P.O.A.B. is an excellent supplement to your City of Atlanta retirement income.
ANNUAL BENEFIT:
 
If you contribute to the P.O.A.B. for 10 years your supplemental retirement benefit at age 55 is $2,842 a year for life. At 20years and at age 55 the benefit is $5,685 a year. After 30 years theretirement benefit is $8,528 a year. Two recently retired APD officers aredrawing $8,500 a year after 30 years of contributions into P.O.A.B. To obtainthis benefit they contributed $120 a year, only $10 a month, to POAB.I was shocked to learn that less than 50% of APD officers are enrolled in thePeace Officers’ Annuity and Benefit fund.You can learn about the plan online at 
http://www.state.ga.us/poab/ 
or call me and make an appointment to pick up an application forms inmy office on the 5
th
floor of City Hall East. I am grateful to the twocaptains who encouraged me to sign up over 15 years ago, and Iwould love to see a higher percentage of APD officers signed up for P.O.A.B. If you are already a P.O.A.B. member, and know someonewho has not yet signed up, please share this information with themand encourage them to join.When you begin to draw your retirement from P.O.A.B. you choosebetween several options of survivor benefits for your spouse. ThePOAB plan also provides life, line-of-duty death and disabilityinsurance benefits. This plan is particularly important to us sincePolice Officers are not eligible for full Social Security benefits becauseof the “government pension offset” rule. As a Police Officer you shouldnot plan on receiving any social security income, making membershipin the P.O.A.B. critical!Sign up today!Lou Arcangeli
NotesFromTheVice-Chair:
Dear Atlanta Police Officers:
The Police Officers Pension Fund investments aresecure and actuarially sound, with over $397,000,000 in cash,diversified stocks and bonds.
CATASTROPHIC INJURY BENEFITS:
The most importantissue regarding our pension in recent years has been theunacceptable and deplorable treatment of our catastrophicallydisabled officers. Councilmember Felicia Moore has introducedan ordinance to address this problem, and it is pending beforethe Finance committee at this time. Please watch for progresson this measure in the 2003 budget.
NOVEMBER ELECTION:
Thank you for electing me to servethree years as a trustee on the Pension Fund Board. I am notgoing to seek another term, and an election will be held inNovember to fill the position I am vacating. The term of office for this board-member will be from January 2003 throughDecember of 2006. To qualify send a certified letter requestingthat you name be placed on the Police Pension Fund Trusteeballot to Director Andrea Spears of the Employee BenefitsDivision before September 16, 2002.When you vote to select our next Pension BoardTrustee please examine their experience, credentials,contributions, and most importantly their integrity. You areelecting them to a difficult but rewarding job. To see what theyare facing review the history of our pension plan on page 8 andthen select an officer you can trust to handle these types of challenges to our financial future.
THE FUTURE:
There are still opportunities for improvement inour pension plan, specifically by reducing the age penalties andlowering the 7% level of officer contribution payments. Whileour pension benefits are not on par with DeKalb County andmany other Police Departments, we have significantly closedthe gap that exists between our police brothers and sisters inneighboring jurisdictions. We can now retire with dignity and notin poverty, and escape the retirement sentence of so many of APD’s past retirees who spent their senior years directing traffic,working as security guards, or living in poverty. If we are toattract and retain the next generation of police officers we willneed ongoing and competitive pay and pension improvements.One of the issues that the Board has been working onis the question of what services we should outsource andseparate from the Finance Department. Jim Rose is working onthis and will need support to implement cost efficient processes.We have seen the administrative costs charged by the FinanceDepartment continue to climb and we need to seek long termsolutions.
STATE OF THE PENSION BOARD
: I was elected to serve as apension fund trustee in 1999 to fill the unexpired term of Investigator Ken Cullifer after we lost him to cancer. I amgrateful to Mrs. Patsy Cullifer, Ken’s widow, for graciouslysharing all of his pension files. Patsy helped educate me on themany complex issues facing the Pension Board, and she is oneof many people who have helped all of us over the years.Please thank everyone who has helped us for their efforts!Past and current trustees
Ken Cullifer, Lee New, BudWatson and especially Chairman Don Lee
fought against thecorrupt administration of former Mayor Bill Campbell. I amhonored to have had the opportunity to represent you beforeCity Council, in the press, and in the courts to remove BillCampbell’s influence and restore Police Pension Fund integrity.Every elected Pension Fund Trustee has shared a commitment
Police Officers’ Pension Fund Trustee Newsletter.
Editor:
Louis Arcangeli, Pension Board Trustee
2
 
to making APD’s pension secure our benefits competitive. I amhonored to have worked with such good men, and like them, Iam proud to have served in an uncompromised manner.I am leaving the Pension Board in very capable hands.Trustee
Jim Rose
led the 2001 pension improvementcommittee before being elected and has quickly mastered hisresponsibilities. Board Chairman, Retired Lieutenant
Don Lee,
is the elder statesman of our board, and in his 8 years of serviceas “Chairman of the Board” has consistently demonstrated hiswisdom and leadership. Mr. Chairman, it has been fun.
THANK YOU:
In looking back over my three years of service onthe board I am proud of initiating and leading the mostsignificant pension improvement since the 1970’s: The 2001 3%per-year benefit plan. I am grateful to the men and women whodid the work, and who allowed me to coach and advise themduring that time. I ask that you take a moment to thank the CityCouncil, and those who helped me with research, marched onCity Hall, presented information at community meetings, andmet face-to-face with City Council members. You know whothey are, take time to say “Thank you”.Thank you for the honor of serving as a Police Officers’Pension Fund Trustee, and for the personal satisfaction thatcomes from having made a difference during my career with theAtlanta Police Department.Sincerely, and always for a safe Atlanta,
Louis ArcangeliPension Board TrusteeP. O. Box 5445Atlanta, GA 31107404-853-4492
E-mail:
larcangeli@yahoo.com
~
Unsolicited advice for a financially secure retirement: Have a plan!
1234567Plan to live long and live large!
Based on the hundreds of healthy, positive and prosperous retirees I know there is life after APD.
Maximize your deferred compensation (pre-tax 457 plan) contributions into a group of well-diversified investments.Plan on working for the City of Atlanta until you are 55 to avoid the early retirement penalty.Join the P.O.A.B. and if eligible, sign up to buy back up to 5 years of prior law enforcement service.Plan your retirement. For many of us retirement from policing is considered “half-time” in our lives. It is a time to pursue secondcareers or work for our spouses full-time! Retirement is not the end of your working life; it merely expands your choices.Open and put money into a ROTH IRA. (see #2 above) If necessary work extra jobs to fund this invaluable retirement tool!Attend the annual APD “Old Timers Round-up”. Enjoy the fellowship of APD retirees at the regular informal breakfasts.LA
Police Pension Fund Information:
Current Elected TrusteesDon Lee
1992-2004 Chairman
Lou Arcangeli
1999-2002 Vice-Chair
(term expiresDecember 2002) Jim Rose
2000-2004
Past Elected Trustees
Bud Watson Ken CulliferLee New E. V. Forrester Jim Mullins George WeaverLamar Harris R. M. Lane
How many officers retire each year?
Since 1994, an average of 
40
officers retired each year.
In 2001
,
 
there were
44
retirees and 4 non-line-of-duty disability pensions.
 
In 2002, through August 30 there have been
23
retirements
.
Trends in APD Pension Fund Membership
199420002002Police pension fund members
(Sworn Officers
)16151453
1490
Number of retirees/beneficiaries6501013
976INFORMATION ON POLICE RETIREES IN THE FIRST 8 MONTHS OF 2002
5 have taken full service pensions at age 55 or older.
14 have taken reduced service pensions (retired before age 55)
The average length of service for these retirees is 29 years.
The average age of service retirements is 53 years of age.
4 have taken early retirement. (before age 50)
Average length of service for early retirement was 17 years.
The average age of officers taking early retirement was 40, with a $920 month benefit.
Police Officers’ Pension Fund Trustee Newsletter.
Editor:
Louis Arcangeli, Pension Board Trustee
3
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