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REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR PENSION FUNDING STRATEGY FOR EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT <br /> <br />Page 3 <br /> <br />Case Study: City of Walnut Creek <br />NHA worked with the City of Walnut Creek in early 2025 to (1) educate <br />stakeholders about their CalPERS pension liability, (2) provide stress testing <br />scenario modeling to account for potential changes to the discount rate in the <br />future, (3) develop a customized model that helped optimize the timing and <br />amounts of Section 115 Trust deposits and withdrawals, and (4) review and support potential changes to <br />the City’s pension funding policy. Similar to the City of Pleasanton, Walnut Creek projected sizeable <br />General Fund deficits caused by rising pension increases and needed a “fresh look” at how their Section <br />115 Trust assets could be best leveraged. Ultimately, City staff and NHA tag-teamed a presentation to <br />Council that garnered unanimous support to amend their budget and reserve/pension policies. Included <br />in Appendix B is the final presentation to Council, as well as the staff report. We would encourage you to <br />reach out to Kirsten LaCasse (Administrative Services Director) and Dan Buckshi (City Manager) as a <br />reference. <br />Case Study: City of Riverside <br />NHA was hired in 2018 to serve as the City’s pension consultant and was tasked to provide <br />robust education about pension cost management to several of the City’s stakeholders, <br />including department heads, labor groups, and Council. The City used this work to develop <br />their “CalPERS Challenge” project, which encouraged significant stakeholder education and <br />idea sharing to better illuminate this growing challenge and develop strategies. NHA then served as the <br />City’s consultant and municipal advisor on its $430 million Pension Obligation Bond (“POB”) in 2020. This <br />financing was the culmination of 9 months of significant due diligence, risk assessment/stress testing, <br />scenario modeling, and Council education. Policy was adopted to soak up any savings from the POB and <br />place into its Section 115 Trust, a balance that is now closing in on $100 million. Annually, the City relies <br />upon NHA to “re-fresh” the ongoing strategy, which includes tailored ADPs, Fresh Start, and Section 115 <br />Trust smoothing analysis. While there are dozens of materials that can be shared from this work, <br />Appendix C includes the materials listed below. We would encourage you to reach out to Edward Enriquez <br />(Assistant City Manager/CFO) as a reference. <br />• 2018 CalPERS Education and Cost Management Strategies <br />• January 2020 POB Workshop <br />• May 2020 Final POB Approval With Stress Testing and Risk Assessment <br />• 2023 Analysis of 6/30/2022 CalPERS Valuation <br />Case Study: City of Santa Rosa <br />Like Pleasanton, as well as Walnut Creek and Riverside, Santa Rosa is currently <br />facing near term deficits in the General Fund. NHA was hired in 2025 and HAS <br />NOT been in front of Council yet but is working closely with the Finance Director <br />(Scott Wagner) to develop tailored options to leverage the current assets in the Section 115 Trust over <br />the next 7-10 years. ADPs, Fresh Starts, and Section 115 Trust smoothing have been analyzed, with a <br />hybrid Fresh Start/115 “ramp-up” option being preliminarily tailored for maximum budget relief and <br />stakeholder buy in. While currently NOT being recommended, a policy that allows for a POB when certain <br />parameters are met is also being evaluated. The draft presentation we’ve worked on with Scott is attached <br />as Appendix D, and we believe a version of this will make its way to council next month, with <br />accompanying changes being recommended for their pension funding policy. <br />Docusign Envelope ID: BB80A86F-2853-4F40-B02D-18F5B9DD615F