Houston Firefighters' Relief & Retirement Fund

Membership Total Net Assets Social Security Participation Contributions Contribution Type Fiscal Year End
Active: 3,646
Annuitant: 3,758 		$5,378,729,463 No Employee: 10.50 %
Employer: 26.89 % 		Actuarial June

The Houston Firefighters' Relief and Retirement Fund was initially created in 1937 under the authority of the Texas Local Fire Fighters’ Retirement Act. In 1975, the 64th Legislature enacted Article 6243e.2, Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes, establishing the Fund independently in statute. The Fund was recodified by the 75th Legislature in 1997 under Article 6243e.2(1), Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes. The Fund is a single-employer contributory defined benefit pension plan covering firefighters employed by the City of Houston that provides retirement, disability and death benefits to eligible members and their beneficiaries. Prior to 1988, the City of Houston provided the staff and financing for the daily administration of the Fund; effective July 1, 1988, the Board of Trustees assumed full responsibility for Fund administration.

Actuarial
Financial
Investments

A retirement system's effective amortization period is defined by the PRB as the time it would theoretically take to fully fund the system's unfunded actuarial accrued liability (UAAL), if any exists, using the system's chosen asset valuation method. Some systems provided an amortization period using both the market value of assets and the actuarial value of assets. If only one was below 30, the smaller value is reflected on this page. The effective amortization period assumes no future gains or losses and factors in both the plan's stated and historical contribution policy. The calculation is done at each actuarial valuation which is conducted every year or every two years. Plans with a funding surplus are reported with an amortization period of zero.

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A retirement system's funded ratio is a one-time snapshot of the percentage of its actuarial accrued liability that is funded by its actuarial value of assets at the time of measurement.

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Contributions into a retirement system are typically made by the employer and the employees and are often reported as a percentage of payroll. Texas statute requires systems to report a recommended contribution rate needed for the system to achieve and maintain an amortization period that does not exceed 30 years, shown in the chart as the actuarially determined contribution (ADC). If the plan does not report contributions on a percentage of payroll basis, no data will appear.

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Pension funding requires assumptions to be made about the future, which are called actuarial assumptions. These assumptions along with current plan participant data and benefits are used to project future benefit obligations. Actuarial methods are used to calculate a system's liabilities, current and future costs, as well as amortization payments.

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The market value of assets of a retirement system is generally the value at which assets owned by the system could be traded in the markets. This figure is also referred to as the fiduciary net position in accounting valuations (GASB 67).

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Net pension liability (NPL) is the total pension liability (TPL) of the retirement system minus the system's fiduciary net position (FNP) or market value of assets, as reported in accounting valuations. This graph displays the effect that +/-1% changes in the discount rate would have had on the system's NPL and associated funded ratio (FNP/TPL) in each year depicted.

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Non-investment cash flow is the annual contributions less benefit payments and expenses of the fund, as a percentage of ending total net assets. On its face, negative non-investment cash flow may not be an indicator of distress. For mature retirement systems, slightly negative non-investment cash flow (e.g. -1% to -3%) is the desired aim of pre-funding the system, allowing for lower contribution requirements. Significant negative noninvestment cash flow (e.g. less than -3%) over time, however, can be an indicator of distress, particularly for a plan that is not receiving its full ADC. For a retirement plan with a low funded ratio, significant negative cash flow can cause liquidity concerns and further imperil the plan by requiring too many of the assets to be held in liquid investments (which depresses investment experience) and/or by requiring imprudent liquidation of assets. Most public pension plans in Texas have a negative cash flow.

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This graph displays the contributions and distributions by the retirement system over the past ten years. Contributions include those from both the employer and employees. Distributions include benefit payments, withdrawals, and refunds to current and former plan members.

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The types of expenses that go into running a retirement fund include investment-related, administrative, and occasionally, other miscellaneous expenses. The graph displays the retirement system's total expenses as a percentage of assets. Due to inconsistencies in reporting of investment expenses, this data may not be an entirely accurate depiction of true investment-related expenses paid.

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Investment returns make up an essential part of a retirement system's funding strategy. The graph shows the most recently reported short- and medium-term investment rates of return compared with the rate of return the plan assumes it will make on its investments. Figures obtained from the most recent investment return and assumptions reports. All figures are net of fees.

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A retirement system's investments are diversified to manage risk while maximizing returns. The asset allocation is guided by its investment policy which is adjusted by the system periodically. Figures obtained from the most recent annual financial reports and may differ from allocation targets in investment policy statements. The PRB reclassifies mutual fund investments into the underlying asset classes, when the necessary information is provided.

Other includes:capital assets, receivables, securities lending collateral, liabilities and cash.

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Key Plan Provisions
Tier 1
Eligible Members Hired before 7/1/2017
Age/YCS 20 YCS
Benefit Formula (Member's accrued benefit as of 7/1/17) + (2.75% x Final Average Salary x Years of Credited Service on/after 7/1/17 < = 20) + (2% x Final Average Salary x Years of Credited Service on/after 7/1/17 > 20)
Final Average Salary Highest 36 months
COLA 100% of 5-yr smoothed return - 4.75%; min 0%, max 4%. Beginning at age 55 with a 3-yr freeze on COLAs for members under 70 yrs until 2021. COLA for FY 2018 and 2019 = 100% of 5-yr smoothed return - 5%.
DROP/PROP Provisions Forward DROP, 13-yr max. (10-yr max for contribution credit.) Interest credit: 65% x 5-yr compounded avg fund return (min 2.5%); No COLA or contributions credited after 7/1/17. Retro DROP option, 3 year max. PROP option before 7/1/17. HFRRF retirement benefit after DROP is further increased 2% x initial DROP benefit x years of DROP participation, max 20% increase.
Tier 2
Eligible Members Hired on/after 7/1/2017
Age/YCS Rule of 70
Benefit Formula (2.25% x Final Average Salary x Years of Credited Service < = 20) + (2% x Final Average Salary x Years of Credited Service > 20); max 80%
Final Average Salary Highest 36 months
COLA 100% of 5-yr smoothed return - 4.75%; min 0%, max 4%. Beginning at age 55 with a 3-yr freeze on COLAs for members under 70 yrs until 2021. COLA for FY 2018 and 2019 = 100% of 5-yr smoothed return - 5%.
DROP/PROP Provisions None

"Full retirement" is the term for the age and years of service required to retire without any reduction in a member's retirement benefits. The table details the benefit a member of the retirement system will receive at retirement if they have met the system's full retirement criteria.

As a retirement system matures, its ratio of active to retired members will naturally decrease as retired members make up a greater percentage of a system's membership. The PRB includes retirees as well as beneficiaries in the count of retired members, and all active members (both vested and non-vested) in its active member count. Vested terminated members are not included in either value. If the plan does not have either active members or annuitant members, no data will appear.

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Board Composition
Active Employee Five members must be currently active firefighter members of the fund, elected by firefighters who are also members of the fund to serve a three-year term.
Retiree One member must be retiree fund members with at least 20 years of fund participation who are elected by retired firefighter fund members with 20+ years of service to serve a three-year term.
Sponsor Government One member must be the currently active mayor or an appointed representative of the mayor with no term specified. The other must be the currently active City Treasurer or person performing treasurer duties for the city with no term specified.
Citizen Two members must be city residents for at least one year preceding initial appointment, registered voters, and not employees of the city who are appointed by the elected members of the Board of Trustees to serve a two-year term.
Governing Statute Article 6243e.2(1), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes

Texas retirement systems are required to have a governing body to oversee the investment and expenditure of funds and the administration of benefits. The board of trustees has the fiduciary responsibility for the system's assets and is typically comprised of representatives from stakeholder groups such as active and retired members, sponsoring entities, and citizens/taxpayers. Board composition and member selection processes vary from system to system.

Benefit and Contribution Decision-Making
Employer Contribution Determined by the corridor mechanism outlined in the governing statute. Pension board and the city jointly determine the target contribution rate and the corridor around the target rate. The target rate must remain within the corridor, but once the plan is 100% funded, the rate can be lowered.
Employee Contribution Determined by the corridor mechanism outlined in the governing statute. Based on whether the city's contribution rate is lower or greater than the target rate and funded ratio thresholds of less than, equal to or greater than 90% or 100%, the city and the pension board can/shall enter into a written agreement to increase/decrease the member contribution rate.
Benefit Increase Determined by the corridor mechanism outlined in the governing statute. If the city's contribution rate is lower than the target rate and based on funded ratio targets of equal to or greater than 90% or 100%, the city and the pension board may enter into a written agreement to make benefit modifications.
Benefit Reduction Determined by the corridor mechanism outlined in the governing statute. If the city's contribution rate is equal or greater than the target rate, the city and the pension board shall enter into a written agreement to make benefit modifications.
Constitutional Protection No. However, the governing statute states that neither the city nor the pension board can make any unilateral changes to the pension plan.

Decisions relating to contribution levels and benefit provisions are governed differently across Texas' diverse public retirement systems. This table shows how, and by whom, decisions related to contributions and benefits are made and whether there is protection for these benefits in the Texas Constitution.

Plan Contact Information

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(281) 372-5100
4225 Interwood N Pkwy
Houston, TX 77032

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This data center contains information reported by retirement systems to the PRB in annual financial reports, actuarial valuations and other studies, and investment and membership reports. The information may not reflect a system’s current status, only its most recently reported information. Deadlines for reporting information vary and may be viewed here. Historical data and trends presented are not intended to predict future events or continuing trends.

The information in this data center is intended to meet the Texas Government Code Section 801.209(a) requirement to post each public retirement system’s most recent data from reports required under Chapter 802, as well as to meet the Section 2054.1265 requirement for state agencies to post high-value data sets created or maintained by the agency on a generally accessible internet website maintained by or for the agency.

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