A Dallas City Council committee says it wants more frequent updates from the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System on how investments supporting the pension are performing.
The statements from members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Pensions came Thursday amid a lawsuit the board that oversees the pension system filed against the city two weeks ago.
A consultant retained by the city told committee members that the pension has been underperforming on investment returns over the last five years compared to other public pensions across the state.
Commerce Street Investment Management reviewed the investment strategy and performance of DPFPS and the Employees’ Retirement Fund, the pension for City of Dallas employees.
Dory Wiley, the CEO of Commerce told the committee that while everyone acknowledges the city will have to increase its contributions to the pension over the next few years, but more is needed from the DPFPS too.
“I think the headline is the fund can help too with increased performance,” Wiley said.
“It’s not going to be overnight; it’s going to take time but with increased performance through less risk, they can take less risk and make more money to help ease the burden for the taxpayers in the city.”
State law requires the submission of a plan to the Texas Pension Review Board by November to get the DPFPS fully funded by 2055. Currently, the pension is 39% funded.
A disagreement on how fast the city would get to an “actuarially determined contribution” level led the DPFPS board to take the city to court earlier this month.