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John Littler of GovDeals gives the audience an overview of the LaMATS Surplus Property Program, highlighting more than $1M in revenue now returned to La. municipalities through the popular service. LaMATS broadcasts the Mid-Winter breakout session “LaMATS 101” via Facebook Live technology. “Lisa will be a great asset to this Board,” said Butler. “She brings years of municipal leadership experience and a passion for Parks and Recreation, which our dearly departed friend would appreciate.” Cooperative Purchasing Commission (LACPC) Meets, Approves By-Laws Immediately following the La- MATS Board Meeting, members of the LACPC held their first Semi-Annual meeting of the new year. Leading the day’s agenda was the adoption (passed unanimously) of the Commission’s By-Laws, which officially state the definition, purpose, and governance structure of the statewide cooperative purchasing commission as accepted by the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office in January. The tax-exempt LACPC is designed to facilitate joint cooperative purchasing contracts on behalf of its Louisiana local government members under LA. R.S. 33:1324. In addition to Commissioners in attendance were the LACPC’s Commission Chair Suzanne Williams, LaMATS Administrators Paul Holmes and Cliff Palmer, and Designated LACPC Secretary Matt Mullenix. The full membership and other information about the LACPC can be found at lamats.net/lacpc. by Cliff Palmer LaMATS Executive Director Palmer leads the Louisiana Municipal Advisory and Technical Services Bureau (LaMATS) - a subsidiary of LMA. He can be reached at cpalmer@lamats.net. Page 20 LMR | MARCH 2024
RISK MANAGEMENT, INC. RMI – LMA Response Regarding MPERS Legislation HB 42 and HB 52 Recently, MPERS issued a Legislative News Alert purporting to summarize the contents of Regular Session Bills HB 42 and HB 52. Their representations are disappointing and paint an incomplete picture of the system, its members, and the proposed legislation. Unlike other statewide retirement systems (like MERS), the Municipal Police Employees Retirement System (MPERS) is a mandatory system, whereby all qualifying police department personnel must be enrolled in the system, compelling employer contributions for each employee of 33.925% for FY23 and a whopping 35.60% for FY24. The convoluted statute (La. R.S. 11:157) allows for individual employees to opt out of participation in the system by affidavit. However, MPERS has secured legislation mandating that even those who wish to opt-out must be enrolled anyway subject to the return of only the employee’s contributions, even if the affidavit is forwarded to MPERS on day one of their employment. This system has resulted in a chaotic, piecemeal landscape of system membership – in some municipalities, all eligible personnel must be enrolled; in others, some employees are enrolled, and some have opted out. Important points to note are: • HB 42 seeks to bring MPERS into parity with other statewide retirement systems (such as MERS), converting the system to an opt-in system. • Under the proposed framework, if a municipality opts into MPERS participation, all eligible employees must be enrolled and employer/employee contributions must be tendered accordingly (i.e., no individual opt-outs) • The bill provides for a winding down whereby all current members remain enrolled, and all municipalities must bear their proportionate share of the UAL. • This will create clarity and certainty in the system through administrative changes and more. MPERS’s recent collection attempts were initially collaborative in nature, but those actions were replaced by threatening demand letters (often including no calculations to demonstrate the sums allegedly owed), and ultimately, lawsuits against municipalities for alleged past-due contributions. Importantly, MPERS has initiated all lawsuits in the 19 th JDC (East Baton Rouge Parish), regardless of where the employer is located. MPERS incorrectly indicates that the Louisiana Supreme Court issued a ruling finding that the venue is appropriate in the 19 th JDC. The truth is the Supreme Court declined to grant a writ to hear that issue, at that time, in that particular case. Nonetheless, by filing suit in the 19 th JDC, MPERS seeks to take advantage of conflicting provisions of law: • La. C.C.P. Art. 84 provides that “actions involving” MPERS shall be brought in the 19 th JDC, BUT • The Louisiana Governmental Claims Act, specifically La. R.S. 13:5104, provides, “All suits filed against a political subdivision of the state . . . shall be instituted before the district court of the judicial district in which the political subdivision is located or in the district court having jurisdiction in the parish in which the cause of action arises.” • HB 52 attempts to resolve this issue by providing that suits against municipal employers must be instituted in the district court in which the municipality is located as provided by the Louisiana Governmental Claims Act, instead of compelling all municipalities, no matter how far removed from the 19 th JDC, to appear there. In its myriad of lawsuits, MPERS alleges past-due contributions going back for years (sometimes a few years, sometimes decades), and they refuse to ac- LMR | MARCH 2024 Page 21
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Page 5 and 6: PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Seeing the Lo
Page 7 and 8: Reaching Young People Bank-at-Schoo
Page 9 and 10: Leveraging Social Media in a Crisis
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MARCH 2024

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