Steve Harry on Public Policy

City attorney can't seem to deliver FOIAed materials

April 16, 2024

I send a lot of Freedom of Information Act requests. Two sent to the City of Lansing are overdue and it is puzzling because they should be easy to comply with. Both are for actuarial valuation reports, one for retiree health care and the other for pensions. The City uses them to prepare an annual report to the state treasury department's Municipal Stability Board.

Actuary reports for retiree health care

My request for the health care reports was sent on 9/30/23. I said

I would like the latest Actuarial Valuation of Retiree Healthcare Benefits reports for the Employees Retirement System (ERS) and the Police and Fire Retirement System. The previous reports - which I have - say "as of" January 1, 2021. That means that the latest ones are "as of" January 1, 2022. It was my understanding in the past that these reports came out every 2 years. but either I was wrong or they've started coming out yearly. I have reports for 2020 and 2021. The retirement boards probably do not have these reports, since they don't deal with retiree health care. The latest I have were provided by Desiree Kirkland.

It is true: the retirement boards for Police & Fire and for ERS deal with pensions only, not retiree health care (unless things have changed). Desiree Kirkland at that time was head of Finance.

I got no response to my request other than acknowledging its receipt. I sent a follow-up on 1/29/24:

My original request said " I would like the latest Actuarial Valuation of Retiree Healthcare Benefits reports for the Employees Retirement System (ERS) and the Police and Fire Retirement System. . .

These reports should be available now (if they weren't before). They are referred to in the minutes of the November 21 joint board meeting of the ERS and Police & Fire retirement systems, which are here on my website: https://www.steveharrypublicpolicy.com/CityEmployees/ERSboardMinutes/ERS20231121.pdf

When I still got no response, I sent a reminder on 2/16/24:

A response to this request was promised 10/23/23.

On 3/11/24, I said

I would like to appeal your failure to deliver the documents I requested. They were requested 9/30/23. As usual, I would be happy to know where I can find them on the City website.

Still no response. FOIA appeals are supposed to be heard by the president of the city council, who at this time is Jeremy Garza.

The actuary reports for pensions are on the City's website here for Police & Fire and here for ERS, but I've never been able to find retiree health care reports. Not even on a page titled Pension & Retiree Health Care Reports. I have the retiree health care reports for 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, but I must have gotten them through FOIA requests rather than off the City website.

Actuary reports for retiree pensions

My request for the pension reports was sent on 2/16/24. I said

I would like the latest Actuarial Valuation For Funding and Contributions reports for both the ERS and Police & Fire Retirement systems. According to the minutes of the December board meetings, the reports were received at the November meetings. If they are on the website, all I need is to know where to find them. The "as of" dates for these reports would be 12/31/22.

I got this response on 2/1/24:

In order to determine whether the City possesses records responsive to your request, we are extending the time for responding to your request by ten (10) business days, as permitted under MCL 15.235, Section 5(2)(d). Therefore, a written response will be issued on or before March 11, 2024.

When they didn't deliver, I said this on 3/11/24:

I would like to appeal your failure to deliver the documents I requested. They were requested February 1 and promised March 11. They should be on the City's website; if they are, I just need to know where to find them.

I have always been able to get the pension reports on the City website, here for Police & Fire and here for ERS. The problem is that the latest reports have not been posted.

FOIA requests are handled by the city attorney's office and for the last few years they have used special software to manage FOIA requests. Start here:

The system keeps a record of your requests along with any correspondence between you and the city attorney's office. However, the system does not seem to make the city attorney comply with requests any faster.

Send comments, questions, and tips to stevenrharry@gmail.com or call or text me at 517-730-2638. If you'd like to be notified by email when I post a new story, let me know.

A reminder that you can find detailed payroll reports for the City of Lansing, the Board of Water & Light and Capital Area Transportation Authority for several past years here.

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