Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland
August 1, 2011

Last year, Birmingham (AL) — once called the “Magic City” — found itself with a problem familiar to many city leaders around the country: its finances were upside-down and getting worse. Recession-bitten revenues were down; expenses were up.

The city needed to do some magic on its books. The answer was to create a Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program, or VRIP, which would, among other benefits, award a week of pay for every year of service and a maximum of 160 hours of sick leave. The question was how to do it without triggering financial issues for those the VRIP was intended to benefit.

So the city asked Nationwide Retirement Solutions for help. For more than 30 years, The United States Conference of Mayors has worked with Nationwide to offer the program as a way for city employees to supplement their pension and Social Security benefit when they’re ready to retire.

Nationwide representatives Scott Curtis and Selmon Robinson dug right it, working side-by'side with the city’s Human Resource Department, Benefit Committee and the advisory panel as the VRIP was developed. Then, they rolled out a series of workshops to explain to targeted employees a rationale for deferring what could be sizeable lump'sum income taxes by contributing bonus sick leave and transferring VRIP payouts into their deferred compensation plan account.

Of more than 200 eligible employees, 105 signed up to retire early and 81 boosted their deferred comp accounts rather than taking lump'sum payouts.

Assistant Personnel Director Barry Lollar says proactive service seems to come naturally to Nationwide representatives. “Scott Curtis and Selmon Robinson continually show us that they know what they’re doing and they really care about our employees’ best interest. They were champions of the whole process. They recognized what employees would need, worked to meet the need.”

Former Benefits Manager Joni Perley was among the employees who retired last year. She points out that Curtis and Robinson were just as proactive after learning that city fire fighters were going to get hit with a pay adjustment. They approached the city to suggest a smooth procedure to help fire fighters adjust their contribution levels and, where necessary, file unforeseeable emergency claims.

Within days, they visiting all three shifts at the 31 stations to explain the process and help fire fighters make adjustments triggered by their reduction in pay.

“Our employees were very appreciative of their compassion and extra effort. They maintained a high level of service no matter the rank but were especially attentive to employees who were less financially savvy,” Perley said.

Nationwide actively supports mayors and city leaders even when they need to make difficult decisions, says Lou Moreno, Regional Vice President for Nationwide Retirement Solutions. “Sure, we’re here to encourage retirement saving and planning for the future by taking control of it, but we’re also here to help city employees understand all the benefits of participating in the Conference of Mayors Deferred Compensation Program.”

“That’s not magic,” Moreno said. “That’s good people working hard to do what’s best for cities and their employees.”

For more information on what Nationwide is doing to help city employees, even during difficult economic conditions, contact Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland with the Conference of Mayors at 301-460-5251 or kweyland@usmayors.org or Jeannie Fanning at 240-393-9672 or e-mail jfanning@usmayors.org, or Louie Watson, Vice President of Strategic Relationships with Nationwide at 614-854-8895 or WatsonL2@Nationwide.com.

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