News Page

These are difficult times for all of us. One thing we do not want you to worry about is the continuing monthly payment of your benefits. The financial markets have been very volatile recently and they may continue that way for some time. But DPFP invests for the long-term. We have an incredibly knowledgeable Board of Trustees and Investment Advisory Committee with years of investment experience. Many of them have been through all the market ups and downs starting in the 1970s and 80s and they know how to deal with the roller coaster the market has been experiencing. The Board is assisted by our consultant Meketa who advises many public pension systems both large and small and they too have enormous experience.

DPFP is committed to the health and safety of our participants, employees and visitors. As you know, there is a heightened awareness related to COVID‐19 (the Coronavirus). To keep our participants and employees safe, we have implemented the following:

As we continue to monitor developments related to the COVID-19 virus we want to assure you that our highest priority, is and will continue to be, that all pension payments are made timely and accurately. We want you to know we have plans and systems in place to allow us to process the monthly pension payroll remotely should the need arise. Staff performing key functions in the process have backup support if needed. As of today, our office is open for business as usual. Of course, as we all know that may change on a moment’s notice. To deal with this possibility, we are developing the processes and protocols to replace typical face-to-face meetings with retirement counselors by exchanging information and documents over the phone and electronically. The Board acted today to ensure that new retirements and survivor benefits will be approved even in the event the Board can not meet.

On January 31, 2020, the Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion in the Degan case. The Supreme Court had been asked to answer two certified questions by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In its opinion, the Supreme Court ruled first that the method of withdrawal of funds from DROP is not a service retirement benefit protected under Article XVI, Section 66 of the Texas Constitution and second the actions by the DPFP Board of Trustees, pursuant to Article 6243a-1 as amended in 2017, to alter previous withdrawal elections and annuitize DROP funds over the respective life expectancy of the plaintiffs in the Degan case did not violate Section 66 of the Texas Constitution.