Minnetonka Schools discusses remote meeting flexibility, reviews trust fund health
The Minnetonka School Board heard two informational updates on August 22: a financial report on its post-employment benefits trust fund and a discussion of new state law allowing remote board participation. No votes were taken, but the board signaled openness to both topics and indicated it will develop policies for future consideration.
Paul Bourgeois, the district's executive director of finance and operations, presented details on the Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) trust fund, established in 2008 to manage health care and other benefits for retired employees. The fund has proven financially valuable to the district: it transferred $10.9 million to the general fund over time and funded the Vantage Momentum building with $9.85 million in excess assets. The fund currently projects a balance of $17.4 million, which Bourgeois said would have been only $6.5 million without those transfers.
However, the fund faces new pressures. More retirees than expected are staying on the district's health plan—some living as far away as Arizona, Florida, and Montana—which has increased projected liabilities. The district is conducting a comprehensive valuation study to reassess future needs. Despite this, Bourgeois indicated the fund remains financially solid with conservative investment returns and should continue covering benefit withdrawals without requiring general fund contributions.
One board member raised concerns about prudence, noting that the Vantage Momentum project required an initial $7 million withdrawal plus an additional $2.85 million for cost overruns. With an $85 million bond measure coming before voters this fall, the board will need to balance future capital needs against the fund's long-term stability.
Superintendent Law also briefed the board on changes to Minnesota Statute 13D.02, which now permits school board members to participate in meetings remotely under specific conditions. The new law removes the requirement that remote participants be in public locations. Board members expressed openness to using this flexibility for emergencies or to ensure a quorum for critical votes, but emphasized that in-person attendance should remain the norm. The board stressed the importance of transparent communication with the public, reliable technology, and a formal policy statement outlining when remote participation would be appropriate. The superintendent indicated a policy will be drafted for future consideration.
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Votes (2)
Update on OPEB Trust Fund
Paul Bourgeois provided a detailed update on the OPEB trust fund, established in 2008 to manage post-employment benefits. He explained the fund's history, the choice of a revocable trust, and its significant contribution to the district's financial health, including transferring $10.9 million to the general fund and funding the Vantage Momentum building with $9.85 million in excess assets. The discussion clarified explicit vs. implicit liabilities and noted a recent increase in projected liability due to more retirees staying on the district's health plan, prompting a comprehensive valuation study. Despite this, the fund remains financially solid, projecting to cover future benefit withdrawals with conservative investment returns.
Discussion on Changes to Open Meeting Law (Minnesota Statute 13D.02)
Superintendent Law presented changes to Minnesota Statute 13D.02 concerning remote participation in board meetings. The new law permits remote attendance under specific technological and transparency conditions, removing the requirement for remote members to be in public locations. Feedback from absent and present board members indicated a willingness to adopt this flexibility for essential meetings or quorum attainment, but with an emphasis on maintaining the value of in-person engagement as the norm. The board stressed the importance of transparent communication with the public, ensuring adequate technology, and potentially drafting a policy statement outlining the board's approach to remote participation.
Notable Quotes (10)
Tonight, executive director of finance and operations, Mr. Paul Rajois, is going to talk through the what this trust fund is, a little bit of history about it, our current status, and some projections for the purpose of informing the board and the public about this fund and and how some things have changed over the last 6 months or 12 months based on some changes in employee behavior, former employee behavior, and other statutory change.
If we had not been able to transfer $10.8 million or $10.9 million from the OPED fund to the general fund to pay for retirey benefits over that time period, our our current fund balance instead of being the projected actual uh we we're not closed officially yet, but then the estimated closing amount of 17.4 4 million would actually only be about 6.5 million.
We basically were able to put into 100 million or 100 million a 100red-year asset.
I'm just I'm just trying to think around like how prudent we need to be with this fund because looking at it through the the Vantage momentum lens, you know, we withdrew $7 million and then there were cost overruns that necessitated another dispersement of 2.85 and we've got an $85 million bond measure we're putting in front of the community for a bunch of construction this fall.
So you may not be able to predict all the future, but it looks like this was a pretty good prediction that this was a good investment to make back in 2008.
I shared an update to the Minnesota statute 13D.02, specifically related to remote participation for for government bodies or specifically in our case, school boards to board meetings... the legislation passed our legislature passed this change and I'll read through the uh pertinent members or uh pertinent items for members of the public.
So both of these I would summarize as having an openness to this policy, making sure our technology is uh fully accessible and making sure we're fully transparent with members of the community that this is an option should it need to be used.
But we've had um lots of interesting meetings or that that have come up out of necessity where we have emergency meetings or doing other things or we really need to make a decision or do different things. And there's probably going to be things like that. Um, and if we need to get to a quorum or other things, I I think uh we need we should have the flexibility and have a policy like this.
I think a couple a couple factors I have to consider are, you know, um is it, you know, like you said, important ones where it would be for the public's benefit to bring people in remotely. We should absolutely consider it if there's someone that can't be there.
what one thing I think you I heard you say is an unintended consequence might be the community's view of this and what the board thinks about it. And so addressing that in a um in a policy or a statement or something um you know would help. We're always striving to be transparent and uh public trust and has been a goal for the last couple years.
Ordinances & Resolutions (3)
Legislation that allowed public entities, including school districts, to establish trust funds for other post-employment benefits (OPEB).
Legislation governing open meetings and recently amended to allow remote participation for government body members.
Mentioned as not yet available for the amended Open Meeting Law.
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Remote Participation under Amended Open Meeting Law
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