Pension fund task force schedules public meetings

The Police-Fire Pension Fund Citizens' Task Force will hold two town hall meetings this month to gather public input on its recommendations to help fix the pension's $200 million shortfall.

The meetings will be held 6:30-8:30 p.m. July 21 in City Council chambers at Historic City Hall, 830 Boonville Ave., and 6:30-8:30 p.m. July 30 at Springfield Art Museum, 1111 Brookside Drive, according to a city news release. The July 21 meeting will be televised live on CityView, on Mediacom channel 23 or digital channel 80, and airtimes for the second meeting will be announced later. Video from both meetings will be posted on the city's Web site.

Springfield City Council formed the task force in April to conduct an in-depth study into methods to fund the pension's shortfall. The group comprises 15 voting members and nonvoting Chairman Jerry Fenstermaker, CEO of Freedom Financial Group Inc. So far, the group has formed three subcommittees to study the issues from three perspectives: the fund and its beneficiaries, the taxpayers and the city itself.

At the town hall meetings, Fenstermaker and the subcommittee chairpersons will discuss recommendations the task force is considering and how the group arrived at those conclusions. The group plans to begin drafting a final report in August, according to the release.[[In-content Ad]]