Career politicians and their hired cronies like to use the Great Recession as the perfect excuse to rape public pensions, even as they continue to gorge off the government trough themselves.  Their depletion of the municipal coffers doesn’t end the feeding frenzy.  It only whets their voracious appetites as they turn to greedily eye the hard-earned retirement funds of the infinitely more deserving, yet least respected, employees.  Police officers are the scapegoats du jour, as covetous politicians attempt to use the cops’ own retirement funds as negotiating tools.

Several years ago, I wrote a blog about the North Miami Beach Police Department’s “Municipal Police Officers’ Retirement Trust Fund,” which is also known as the “185 Fund.”  These are funds that are collected by the State of Florida, and governed by Florida Statute 185.03.  As I explained, this Trust Fund is funded “by the net proceeds of the .85-percent excise tax which may be imposed by the respective cities and towns upon certain casualty insurance companies on their gross receipts of premiums from holders of policies, which policies cover property within the corporate limits of such municipalities.”

I also noted that “Florida Statute 185.35 specifically discusses what the “185 money” may be used for.  This is probably the most important and relevant section of the law.  Accordingly, the Pension Board may deposit the funds in one of two ways:

“(a) Place the income from the premium tax in s. 185.08 in such pension plan for the sole and exclusive use of its police officers, or its police officers and firefighters if included, where it shall become an integral part of that pension plan and shall be used to pay extra benefits to the police officers included in that pension plan; or

(b) May place the income from the premium tax in s. 185.08 in a separate supplemental plan to pay extra benefits to the police officers, or police officers and firefighters if included, participating in such separate supplemental plan.”

When I researched this Statute, I had learned that at least three cities in Miami-Dade County “hold Section 185 funds in a separate trust account, to be invested and held in trust for officers and distributed to them when they retire.  These municipalities keep these funds separate and apart from their retirement accounts.  Neither the cities nor the officers are required to pay anything into these Section 185 trust accounts, nor are these funds used for anything other than distribution directly to retiring officers.”  (Refer to my post for a more detailed description.)

North Miami is one of those cities that participate in this 185 fund, which is also referred to as the “share plan.”

Unlike its counterpart in North Miami Beach, where the officers voluntarily gave up their right to a direct payment of their trust funds in 1995 in exchange for a guaranteed Cost of Living benefit, the members of the North Miami Police Department made no such agreement.  They opted to keep their money.

Smart move!

Despite that iron-clad agreement with the City of North Miami, the NMPD’s 185 share plan is now being targeted by North Miami’s Personnel Director, Joseph “J Ro” Roglieri, who obviously suffers from a severe case of penis police envy.

Chapter 14, Article V of the Charter of the City of North Miami deals with the police pension plan in general, the pension board of trustees, its funding, member eligibility and benefits.

Chapter 14, Article VI of the Charter specifically deals with the special police officers’ fund in the 185 share plan, in accordance with Florida Statute 185 and North Miami City Ordinance 591.1.

Sec. 15-142 of Article VI establishes the fund, and Sec. 14-143 states that 185 money “shall be placed in the special police officers’ fund of the city.”  The other sections of the article address how the funds are to be managed and distributed.

Section 15-153 establishes a special committee consisting of the police chief, mayor and a police officer, who “shall decide all matters of policy concerning the disposition of funds in the special police officer’s fund.”

Chapter 14, Article VII, Sec. 15-172 of the Charter amends Ordinance 592.1.

Many of the provisions remain the same, but interestingly, Sec. 15-184 specifically states, “The city shall have no responsibility for the operation of the fund except those specified herein u [sic] and shall bear no expenses in connection therewith.”

In other words, this 185 trust fund is completely separate and apart from the city’s money, and is to be treated accordingly.

That’s a brief summary of the North Miami Police Department’s 185 share fund.

In 2015, the Florida legislature instituted pension reform, and passed Senate Bill 172, which “substantially changes how insurance premium tax revenues must be used in the funding of local government police and firefighter pension plans,” according to the bill summary on the Florida Senate’s website.

The first half of the bill deals with F.S. 175 relating to firefighter pension plans.

Ignore that part.

More importantly, the police 185 trust fund is dealt with in Section 8, which begins on page 24, line 692.  Most notably, however, Section 14, which begins on page 37, line 1072, amends F.S. 185.35 by adding subparagraphs 1(a) through (g).

Specifically, subparagraphs (a) through (f) of the amended language states that 50 percent of the 185 funds “must be used to fund minimum benefits or other retirement benefits in excess” of the city’s minimum benefits, and the other 50 percent “must be be placed in a defined contribution plan component to fund special benefits.”

Subparagraph (g) of this new law, however, allows any excess funds, after the minimum benefit requirements are met, to be used for collective bargaining, but only “by mutual consent of the members’ collective bargaining representative” or by a “majority of the police officer members.”

The new law now allows municipalities to usurp excess 185 funds which were previously only intended to supplement police officers’ retirement benefits.

Although it went into effect on July 1, 2015, fortunately for the officers of the North Miami Police Department, Senate Bill 172 also included a loophole.

Section 14, paragraph (4)(a), page 42, line 1208, exempts all “local law plan(s)“ from this new law if such plan was in effect before March 12, 1999.

North Miami Police Officers should breathe a collective sigh of relief that their 185 share plan was grandfathered in, which specifically means that the funds in their plan cannot be used for collective bargaining purposes.

That loophole designed to protect the NMPD’s share plan didn’t stop police pension board member Joe Roglieri from trying to get his hands on that money to use as a negotiating tool for a new pension contract.

It all came to a head at a special meeting of the North Miami Police Pension Board held on April 7, 2016.  According to the minutes, that special meeting was called for the purpose of electing officers, deciding the use of the 185 excess money, and approving a new pension contract.

This is when Joe attempted to throw his weight around and cause headaches for everyone else.

Right out of the box, J Ro completely ignored pension attorney Stephen Cypen’s legal advice regarding everything from board elections to Robert’s Rules of Order regarding the making and seconding of motions.  Joe was the lone “no” vote on several board motions which passed 4-1.

When it came time to discuss the use of the 185 share plan excess, the board’s plan administrator advised to either increase the multiplier for the members or to “divide the excess evenly to active members.”

Having none of that, Joe wasn’t about to let the cops’ money slip through his greedy fingers if he could help it.

What a guy, huh?

Despite his complete ignorance of the actual law, J Ro advised the board that the excess 185 funds “are negotiable issues.”

When his opinion was challenged, Joe demanded a copy of the 185 share plan from the independent pension administrator, who advised him to talk to the hand.

Joe was then advised that Assistant Chief Larry Juriga had a copy of the plan and that he was on his way to the meeting.

While the board waited for Chief Juriga to arrive, they read excerpts from Ordinance 592 (which I mentioned above).

J Ro had a hissy fit and left the room.

The board then discussed the loophole in the new law, which I also mentioned above.  They correctly noted that their share plan is grandfathered in and that the city can’t take their excess money.  The board continued discussing the distribution to the individual members.

Board member Officer DeJesus “moved to take the excess and divide it up between active members.”

All of a sudden, Ricardo Castillo, the board member designated by the former Interim City Manager Arthur Sorey, left the room, and the board lost its quorum.

If you’re sensing a pattern here, you’re not alone.

As soon as Castillo returned, Officer Zuniga again attempted a motion to distribute the money to the cops.  The vote was 3-1, with Castillo voting “no.”

The vote failed because, as the attorney advised the board, it needed “4 votes in the affirmative” to pass.

Chief Juriga finally arrived.

At which point, Mr. Castillo got up and left the room again.

Again, there would be no quorum, and no vote would be had.

There was also no quorum to vote on adjourning the meeting.

But since everyone needed to get back to work, the meeting was adjourned anyway.

Class envy is never pretty.

Especially coming from someone who can’t even pay his own bills.

As you might expect, Joe Roglieri is not happy about losing this round.

Scorecard: Roglieri-0, NMPD-1

Watch what happens next.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”