Leonard Muzyn's TVARS Blog

The TVARS Board approved the following 2017 benefit reductions on December 8, 2016 in order to comply with the rule amendments passed 4-3 by the TVARS Board in a special-called meeting on August 8, 2016.  See the transcript of the special-called meeting here . 17% reduction of the annual compounding rate in the cash balance pension formula (6% reduced to 5% for employees first hired on or after 1/1/96) 1.24% supplemental benefit 2017 COLA, as well as all future supplemental benefit COLAs, eliminated for most retirees Reduced maximum supplemental benefit to apply to all current and future retirees 1.24% pension COLA reduced to 0.99% for retirees 6% fixed fund interest rate during employment reduced to 5% for employees who have balances based on their own contributions in the fixed fund In contrast to reduced retirement benefits for TVA employees and retirees, on December 12, 2016 the TVA Board gave TVA's CEO a golden parachute.  If President-Elect Trump appo...

 INTRODUCTION In the words of the Sixth Circuit, “TVARS has an obligation to look out for the interests of plan participants . . . .” At a minimum, TVARS must follow its own Rules. That did not happen between 2009 and 2013. The TVARS Board passed amendments that slashed hundreds of millions of dollars of COLA and interest benefits. The Board failed to give proper notice of the amendments and disobeyed the Rules that protected such benefits. The Board then took hundreds of millions of dollars out of the Excess COLA Account, a fund set aside to pay for COLAs in the future. The amounts taken far exceeded the limits in the Rules. The Court should grant summary judgment to Plaintiffs and enforce the Rules. It makes a difference to tens of thousands of employees and retirees. Not even federal agencies can ignore the law for cost savings or expediency. 259-0. 12-02-2016 Plaintiffs' Reply in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment.pdf 259-1. 12-02-2016 Appendix of Unreported ...

Both the 2009 Amendments and the debits to the Excess COLA Account violated the Rules. TVA’s arguments ignore critical language in the Rules and persuasive authority from the Sixth Circuit. The material facts are undisputed, and Plaintiffs are entitled to judgment as a matter of law. First, the TVARS Board violated Rules § 13 by not giving “at least 30 days’ notice of the proposed amendment” to plan participants. TVARS waited to give notice until after it took the final vote. At that point, the 2009 Amendments were no longer merely “proposed,” and plan participants did not have a chance to petition the Board. Second, the 2009 Amendments reduced benefits in violation of Rules § 13 in two separate ways. The COLAs at issue were already “covered by accumulated reserves held therefor,” the Excess COLA Account. The interest rate credited to existing balances in the Annuity Savings Account was a “nonforfeitable” or vested benefit. Third, the TVARS Board violated Rules §§ 9.B.6 an...

In the recent election for a director vacancy on the TVA Retirement System Board, employees voted to re-elect James W. Hovious.  His new three-year term will run from Nov. 1, 2016, to Oct. 31, 2019.   Of the 2,975 votes cast, Hovious received 2,197 (73.85 percent). Jennifer Weber received 778 votes (26.15 percent). Click here to see Jim Hovious’ candidate information.

As indicated in TVA's presentation at the August 25, 2016 TVA Board meeting, TVA did not veto the amendments approved by the TVARS Board on August 8, 2016. The 30-day period in which TVA could have vetoed them has now passed. Links to Summary Tables of Benefit Changes Changes for employees who first became TVARS members on or after 01/01/1996 and have less than 10 years of TVARS service as of 10/01/2016 Changes for employees who first became TVARS members on or after 01/01/1996 and have 10 or more years of TVARS service as of 10/01/2016 Changes for employees who first became TVARS members before 01/01/1996 and elected to be in the Cash Balance Benefit Structure Changes for employees in the Original Benefit Structure Changes for Retirees Twenty-Year Limit on TVA's Funding Obligations For the next twenty years, TVA's annual funding obligation is limited to the larger of $300 million or the normal cost (1) plus an amount that, if paid 30 years in a row, ...

From Thursday's TVA Board meeting: A 50/50 chance TVA pension is properly funded in 20 years. Click here to see all the slides concerning TVARS presented at the Thursday August 25, 2016 TVA Board meeting. 

Announcement of Candidates Employees who are TVARS members will elect a director from the two candidates listed below for a three-year term on the TVARS Board. The term will run from November 1, 2016, through October 31, 2019. James W. Hovious – Systems Engineer, Generators, Power Operations, Chattanooga Jennifer R. Weber – Senior Program Manager, FERC Compliance & Regulation, Transmission & Power Supply, Chattanooga Click on the names above to view detailed candidate information. Everyone Counts, Inc., an independent election firm, will handle the voting process this year.  Election ballots and instructions will be mailed to employees’ home addresses, and employees will also receive voting information at work by e-mail directly from Everyone Counts. The election will be open from August 29-September 14 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week). The election will close on September 14 at 4:45 EDT. Employees will be able to vote by phone or online. For customer service d...