City Council Meeting Date: July 21, 2026
Date: July 9, 2026
To: Erin Rinehart, City Manager
From: Samantha Dean, Workforce Services Director
Chrystal Davis, Assistant City Manager
Title
Consider Authorizing The City Manager To Enter Into An Agreement With Teacher Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) Pursuant To RFP 26-001 For Plan Record Keeping Services For A Total Ten-Year Contract.
Body
Background:
Since the early 1980’s, the city has offered its employees the opportunity to save for retirement through an Internal Revenue Code Section 457 deferred compensation plan which is similar to the private sector’s 401(k) plans. The city also offers a retirement health savings (RHS) plan for retirees, serving as a defined contribution substitute for any employee a minimum of 10 years of continuous benefited service, and the plan includes a tiered vesting structure based on an employee’s total years of service. In addition, changing IRS regulations required the city to establish a social security substitute plan for temporary and non-benefitted contract employees. Under the SECURE 2.0 Act, governmental 457(b) plans must feature key Roth options and contribution enhancements, this resulted in the city adding a Roth 457(b) option for employees to elect effective July 2024. These various plans are currently administered by MissionSquare Retirement (formerly known as ICMA-RC).
While effectively outsourcing the general administration of these plans to the provider, applicable statutes and related case law create a fiduciary responsibility on the part of the city to ensure that only appropriate investments are offered to plan participants, reasonable fees are charged to plan participants, and that the plan administrators are acting appropriately. After the RFP in 2016, MissionSquare worked with the city, its Fiduciary Committee, and plan participants under a 10-year contract. With the current contract nearing the end of its term, the city embarked on another formal RFP process. The primary goals for this RFP were to:
Ø Enhance participant retirement outcomes;
Ø Analyze the overall competitiveness of the Plans;
Ø Provide for the integrated administration and reporting for the Plans;
Ø Improve participant education and communication services;
Ø Enhance the formal education for the Deferred Compensation Plan Fiduciary Committee (“Fiduciary Committee”);
Ø Provide robust online transaction and information capabilities;
Ø Provide support for as many administrative functions as deemed appropriate;
Ø Evaluate alternative pricing structures;
Ø Reduce participant and Plan expenses;
Ø Provide for an orderly and timely transition of assets and services if necessary; and
Ø Continue the formal record keeper/Committee working relationship
The Fiduciary Consulting Group at Morgan Stanley (formerly known as the Hyas Group) assisted the city in preparing and evaluating the RFP. Upon issuance of the RFP, the Fiduciary Committee appointed ten (10) employees, across various city departments, to the Record Keeper Evaluation Committee.
Five (5) complete proposals were received from Empower, Nationwide, MissionSquare Retirement, the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), and Corebridge. After initial review of the proposals by the Fiduciary Consulting Group at Morgan Stanley and approval by the Recordkeeper Evaluation Committee: Nationwide, MissionSquare Retirement, and TIAA were selected to be interviewed. The final interviews were conducted by the Recordkeeper Evaluation Committee and, ultimately, they recommended that TIAA move forward as the finalist for negotiations.
Financial Implications:
The pricing for TIAA is based on assets in the two retirement plans and based on the number of accounts in the Retirement Health Savings Plan or RHS. The annual revenue requirement is approximately two basis points (0.02%) on retirement plan assets. The administrator of the various plans is compensated through participant fees based on the investment balances of each participant. As a result, there is no financial impact to the city.
Impact on Community Sustainability:
Ensure City services are an optimal value.
Staff Recommendation/Action Desired:
Staff recommends that City Council authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with Teacher Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) pursuant to RFP 26-001 for Plan Record Keeping Services for a total ten-year contract.