Aug
2019
Cedar Park, TX latest city to adopt the PARS OPEB Trust Program
Categories: OPEB/GASB 45/75,PARS News,Texas DevelopmentsDiscovered the many advantages of joining one of the largest OPEB trusts in the country over creating one on their own
The City of Cedar Park decided to enhance their retiree medical benefits as part of broader strategic goals to attract and retain a qualified workforce. Along with these enhancements, the City planned to create a trust to serve as a funding mechanism to offset the unfunded OPEB liability.
Doing their due diligence in researching the best way to create a single-employer OPEB trust, the City was discovering it difficult to find the assistance they needed. It was at this point they learned about the PARS OPEB Trust Program, an IRS-approved multiple-employer trust solution.
Reaching out to PARS, the City appreciated the prompt response from the Texas-based PARS consultant, who laid-out the advantages to PARS’ multiple-employer trust approach, including having low fees, signature-ready documents, ongoing compliance monitoring, and a Private Letter Ruling from the IRS that assures a tax-exempt status of participants’ investments.
Above all these program advantages, Cedar Park liked the flexible investment options the OPEB Trust Program offered, giving the City control on target yield and level of risk on its investments.
In adopting the PARS OPEB Trust Program, Cedar Park joins over 300 public agencies nationwide who are proactively addressing their OPEB liabilities through this pioneering program.
Other features of our program include:
- Economies of scale, low investment fees, no start-up costs and no minimum contributions
- Compliance with GASB 75 rules, in addition to state (Texas Public Funds Investment Act) and federal law
- Low-cost investment options created specifically for OPEB prefunding
- Access to funds at any time for retiree medical expenses
- Full-service “turn-key” trust administration, trustee, compliance monitoring and investment management services that reduce burden on staff
- Experience, support and expertise from the PARS team, a 20+ year veteran of OPEB trust administration